Chapter 28

The personal side of his life continued to blossom, for when he and Amber got together they were ecstatically happy. Their friendship went from strength to strength and their love life brought them both such exquisite pleasure that they both often blessed fate for bringing them together in the first place.

The Festive Season arrived and much to Toby’s sadness and Amber’s too, the entire Monies family jetted off to the United States on December the twenty-first to spend Christmas with John Monies’ parents in Boston, Massachusetts.

‘I wish it was only Boston, Lincolnshire,’ sighed Toby as he waved Amber goodbye, ‘At least then I could afford to phone you up on Christmas Day.’

‘You can be sure that I’ll be thinking of you all the time, but particularly on Christmas day, darling Toby,’ said Amber, blinking back the tears. She pressed a small package into his hand. ‘Don’t open this until then,’ she whispered.

Toby left “Hill House” feeling that Christmas was going to be quite the most miserable on record.

In accordance with Amber’s instructions, he placed the little gift with the rest of the presents under the Christmas tree and resisted the temptation to open it until Christmas morning. Inside the pretty wrapping paper he found a little box containing a silver chain with a disc on it. On one side was engraved the word “Toby” and on the other, “Amber”. Everybody tactfully pretended not to notice when he wiped the tears from his eyes and blew his nose noisily after he had put it on.

After previously being used to long school holidays, it came as quite a shock to Toby when he had to return to the office on the day after Boxing Day. However, as his beloved Amber was not at hand to share the Christmas Season with, he felt that at least he wasn’t sitting at home feeling bored and lonely.

The Monies family returned to England on the eleventh of January and the young lovers had a passionate reunion at “La Retraite” that evening.

‘Ooh,’ purred Amber afterwards as they snuggled up together on the rug under a big blanket, ‘I had no idea how much I’d missed you.’

‘I knew exactly how much I’d missed you,’ responded Toby, ‘You must promise me that you’ll never go away like that again.’

‘I wish I could,’ sighed Amber, ‘But I think I might be going to go away for an awful lot longer next time.’

‘What’s this?’ asked Toby, drawing back and looking at her in concern.

‘Well, you’ve got to know sooner or later,’ she replied, ‘Daddy and Grandpa are talking about going into business together.’

‘Oh Amber, no. You mean business together in Boston, Massachusetts?’

‘I’m afraid so.’

‘And that means you’ll be going,’ said Toby, filled with horror at the notion.

Amber nodded solemnly.

‘Couldn’t you stay behind?’ asked Toby desperately, ‘I mean what are you going to do about the rest of your education? You could always live with us. I’m sure Mum and Dad wouldn’t mind.’

Amber hugged him to her fiercely.

‘You are so sweet,’ she murmured, ‘I shan’t be going next week, silly. It’s all in the early stages at the moment. I doubt if we’ll have to move before next September at the earliest.’

‘You’re taking it so calmly.’ said Toby, a touch of bitterness in his voice.

‘I’ve known about it for almost two weeks now.’ explained Amber. ‘I wasn’t very good about it at first though. Daddy and I had a scene and I cried for a whole day.’

‘Oh poor Amber.’ whispered Toby, stroking her hair softly.

‘It’s just one of those things. We’ll have to make the best of it. Daddy’s going to keep on the businesses in Melvesham and he’s agreed that I can come over to England during the summer vacations. I don’t know where I’ll stay, but at least we’ll be able to see each other for a few weeks of the year.’

‘Sweetest Amber,’ sighed Toby, ‘Always working things out.’

‘If we go, then I’m hoping that I might get a place at Radcliffe University,’ said Amber, ‘Daddy’s sisters both went there. Then afterwards I thought I might be able to get back into Oxford to do a PhD. There are branches of the National Marbaloyd in Oxford, aren’t there?’

‘Several I should have thought,’ chuckled Toby, ‘I’ll look in the book tomorrow.’

‘So you see it won’t be too awful.’

‘No, only fairly awful. I guess we’ll cope as long as we keep on loving each other.’

‘Show me that you mean that,’ whispered Amber, slipping her hand beneath the rug.

‘Oh yes,’ sighed Toby, rolling over, ‘I can’t think of anything I’d rather do.’

From that moment onwards time seemed to fly by with frightening speed. At the beginning of March, Amber flew back to America with her father. He went on a fact-finding business trip and she for an interview at Radcliffe University. With her academic record, to no-one’s surprise she quickly learned that she had won a place. Toby wasn’t sure whether to cheer or cry when he heard, but Amber was obviously so full of delight that he really couldn’t do anything but share in her sense of achievement.

He himself was having modest successes at the National Marbaloyd. In addition to applying himself with a will to learn every job that he was shown in the shortest possible time, Toby sat and passed the first two of his five Institute of Bankers examinations. By early June, Beevish was convinced that Toby could cope with a job on the counter and he stood beside Ernie Danglers for several weeks to learn the routine from top to bottom. At the beginning of July his smart chromium cashier’s name-plate arrived from the Stationery Department and he took it home proudly to show it to Amber. He found it extremely funny when she propped it up on the floor beside the rug while they were making love.

‘Why have you done that?’ he asked.

‘Well, it’s always nice to know who you’re having it off with,’ she giggled, rolling over to have a look at it.

The young couple were to receive a most pleasant surprise from Amber’s father shortly before Toby began his two week holiday at the beginning of August. Because he was still attached to the bank’s Regional Head Office as a supernumerary under special training, rather than being an official member of the staff of Nalchester Branch, Toby’s choice of holiday was not yet limited to those weeks which were left over after more senior members of staff had had their pick. Beevish therefore urged him to take a prime spot while he still could, before he became doomed to take his main holiday in March or November. He decided upon August to make best use of the English summer and he and Amber had planned to spend their last few precious days together sunning themselves and swimming in the Stevenson’s pool.

Their plans were changed completely when John Monies came home from work one evening in late July and presented his daughter with a folder from the local travel agents.

‘What’s this?’ she asked.

‘Oh, just something that I happened to stumble across,’ he replied casually, going into the lounge to pour his usual gin and tonic.

Looking inside, Amber found two tickets to Pisa, in Italy, one in her name and the other made out in that of Mr. Toby Adamson. Behind the tickets was a clipping from a holiday brochure and Amber realised that her father had arranged a holiday for her and her boyfriend at the Grand Hotel International on the Island of Elba. It was one of the places that the young couple had looked at longingly when ploughing through brochures just for fun during the cold damp winter. They had promised each other at the time that it was somewhere they would go one day in the future if ever they could afford it. Amber ran through into the lounge and her father only just managed to put down his glass before she threw herself onto his lap and began to hug and kiss him delightedly.

‘Whatever made you do it?’ she cried.

‘Oh, all sorts of things,’ he replied.

Both John and Jan Monies knew how much Toby meant to their daughter and realised what a wrench their forthcoming separation would be for the two of them, After the initial uncomfortable scene which Amber had had with her father during Christmas in Boston, she had been very philosophical about the whole thing and he was more grateful than he could possibly put into mere words of thanks. Although he did not know why, Amber’s father also knew that he owed Toby for something much deeper, for the change in his daughter’s behaviour and attitude after they had met had been nothing short of a miracle to two very worried parents.

‘What sort of things?’ questioned Amber, her eyes bright with tears of happiness.

‘Just let’s say that it’s my present for being a clever girl and getting into Radcliffe. You made your mother and me very proud of you,’ he said.

Amber gave a little sniff, hugged him again and ran to the phone to tell Toby the news. He was stunned, for it was the second surprise holiday on the continent that he had received in two years.

‘Are you sure?’ he asked.

‘Absolutely,’ replied Amber adamantly, ‘I’ve actually got the tickets in my hand. All we’ll need is a bit of spending money and we’re off.’

‘Terrific,’ breathed Toby, ‘I can supply that all right. We’ll get a jolly good rate of exchange for our Lira too. It’s one of the few perks of working for a Bank.’

Charles Adamson insisted on taking them to the airport and even as they made their way to the check-in desk, neither of them could really believe that it was happening.

‘I wonder if he’s booked separate rooms for us?’ mused Toby as they sat in the departure lounge, waiting for their flight to be called.

‘I don’t know,’ giggled Amber, ‘Somehow I couldn’t bring myself to ask.’

‘Even if we end up sleeping on the front steps, it’s got to be a fantastic way of spending a fortnight together.’

‘I’ll say,’ Amber squeezed his arm affectionately.

The journey was a long one, for after they reached Pisa, the couple were taken by coach to Piombino on the coast where they caught the ferry for Elba. By the time that they arrived at the Hotel, perched on a hill-top overlooking Porto Azzurro, it was early evening. They were checked in and taken up to the third floor where they were shown into a light airy room. The porter took his leave and they looked round with interest

‘Toby, there’s no bed at all,’ whispered Amber worriedly.

‘It’s a sort of studio apartment,’ he said, sticking his head round a door in the corner and turning on the light, ‘Here’s the bathroom.’

‘Talking of the bathroom, I’m dying for a wee,’ giggled Amber, ‘It’s been hours since I went.’ She disappeared through the door and a few moments later Toby heard a torrent of water.

‘It sounds like you were bursting,’ he chuckled.

‘You’re not supposed to listen,’ laughed Amber and shortly afterwards she closed the door.

Toby began to fiddle with the large wooden unit that stood against one wall and was rewarded when a major portion of the centre of it began to move slowly downwards. As he had surmised, the sleeping accommodation folded away when not in use. He was delighted by what he saw come to rest gently on the ground. It was a large double bed.

‘Pussycat,’ he called, ‘I’ve got something to show you.’

Amber opened the bathroom door and looked out. A big smile spread across her face.

‘Tobykins,’ she purred, ‘Are you feeling tired after that nasty long journey?’

‘Oh yes,’ he sighed, ‘Quite exhausted.’

At the self-same moment they began to undress.

Whilst the sexual activity was neither as hectic, nor as continuous as he had experienced on Mallorca, Toby felt that he had never enjoyed himself more than he did during those two idyllic weeks that he spent with Amber on Elba. There was little to do really, which suited them both fine. They spent most of their time out by the swimming pool or down on the minuscule beach at the foot of the steep hillside lift, but both of them felt a deep sense of contentment in each other’s company.

The first week passed by slowly, as first weeks of holidays generally seem to, but the second was over in a flash. On the last night their lovemaking was tinged with a great sadness and when it was over they lay in each other’s arms and wept.

‘When we get back to England it’s only just over two weeks until you go,’ sobbed Toby helplessly, ‘Amber, what am I going to do without you?’

The tears coursed down Amber’s cheeks and she clung to him. Her heart was overflowing with love for him and she knew that she had no words that would ease his pain for she felt the same thing. The night seemed long as they made love to each other frantically, with almost overwhelming passion. Then they would cry and then they would make love again to try to heal the anguish that both of them were feeling. At last, still joined together, they fell into an exhausted sleep which was interrupted by an early call from the receptionist, reminding them that they had just an hour in which to get ready to leave.