Actually no, she didn’t exactly say she was sorry — she said she would sue the party planners. But still. That shows concern, doesn’t it?
God, maybe Elinor has a hidden nice side, I find myself thinking. Maybe there’s a whole different persona under that icy exterior. Yes! She’s all vulnerable and insecure but she’s put up a protective shell around herself. And I’m the only one who can see beneath it, and when I coax the true Elinor into the world, all New York society will marvel, and Luke will love me even more, and people will call me The Girl Who Changed Elinor Sherman, and—
“Becky?” Luke’s voice penetrates my thoughts. “Are you all right?”
“Yes,” I say, realizing with a start that I’m blundering into the coffee table. “Yes, I’m fine!”
I sit down next to him on the sofa, Elinor hands me a glass of icy-cold wine, and I sip it, gazing out the window over the glittering Manhattan lights stretching into the distance. Elinor and Luke are in the middle of some discussion about the foundation, and I nibble a salted almond and tune out. Somehow I’ve arrived in the middle of a dreamlike picture in which Elinor is saying to a crowded room, “Becky Bloomwood is not only a model daughter-in-law, but a valued friend,” and I’m smiling modestly as people start applauding, when there’s a snapping sound, and I come to, slightly spilling my drink.
Elinor has closed the crocodile notebook she’s been writing in. She puts it away, turns down the music slightly, and looks directly at me.
“Rebecca,” she says.
“Yes?”
“I asked you here tonight because there’s something I’d like to discuss with you.” She refreshes my drink and I smile at her.
“Oh yes?”
“As you know, Luke is a very wealthy young man.”
“Oh. Right,” I say, a little embarrassed. “Well… yes, I suppose so.”
“I’ve been speaking with my lawyers… and with Luke’s lawyers… and we are all agreed. So if I could just give you this…” She gives me a glittering smile and hands over a thick white envelope — then hands another to Luke.
As I take it I feel a tingle of anticipation. You see? Elinor’s already becoming friendlier. This is just like Dallas. She’s probably making me an associate of some family company or something, to welcome me into the dynasty. God, yes! And I’ll get to go to board meetings and everything and we’ll mount some amazing takeover together and I’ll wear big earrings…
Excitedly, I open the envelope and pull out a thick, typed document. But as I read the words I can feel my excitement ebb away.
Memorandum of Agreement
Between Luke James Brandon (hereinafter called “The Groom”)
and Rebecca Jane Bloomwood (hereinafter called “The Bride”) of—
I don’t get it. Memorandum of what agreement? Is this—
Surely this isn’t a—
I look bewilderedly at Luke, but he’s flipping over the pages, looking as taken aback as me.
“Mother, what’s this?” he says.
“It’s simply a precaution,” says Elinor with a distant smile. “A form of insurance.”
Oh my God. It is. It’s a prenuptial contract.
Feeling slightly sick, I flip through the contract. It’s about ten pages long, with headings like “Property Settlement in the Case of Divorce.”
“Insurance against what, exactly?” Luke’s voice is unreadable.
“Let’s not pretend we’re living in a fairy-tale world,” says Elinor crisply. “We all know what might happen.”
“What’s that, exactly?”
“Don’t be obstructive, Luke. You know perfectly well what I mean. And bearing in mind Rebecca’s… shall we say, history of spending?” She glances meaningfully at my shoes — and with a start of humiliation I realize why she asked me about them.
She wasn’t trying to be nice. She was gathering ammunition to attack me.
Oh, how could I be so stupid? There is no soft center to Elinor. It just doesn’t exist.
“Let me get this straight,” I say, breathing hard. “You think I’m just after Luke for his money.”
“Becky, of course she doesn’t,” exclaims Luke.
“Yes, she does!”
“A prenuptial contract is simply a sensible premarital step.”
“Well, it’s a step I really don’t think we need to take,” says Luke with a little laugh.
“I would beg to differ,” says Elinor. “I’m only trying to protect you. Both of you,” she adds unconvincingly.
“What do you think, I’m going to… divorce Luke and get all his money?”
Just like you did with your husbands, I’m about to add, but stop myself just in time. “You think that’s why I want to marry him?”
“Becky—”
“You may, of course, look the contract over in your own time—”
“I don’t need to look it over.”
“Do I take it you’re refusing to sign?” Elinor gives me a triumphant look as though I’ve confirmed every suspicion she had.
“No!” I say in a trembling voice. “I’m not refusing to sign! I’ll sign whatever you like! I’m not going to have you think I want Luke’s money!” I grab the pen off the table and furiously start scrawling my signature on the first page, so hard I rip the paper.
“Becky, don’t be stupid!” exclaims Luke. “Mother—”