Step behind the hotel room doors of The Chatsfield, London…

1921, London

The first time the doors open on London’s newest hotel – The Chatsfield - disillusioned soldier Justin York expects to be bored by the wealth and glamour on display. Instead he’s entranced by the star of the show – socialite Miss Vera Milton-Kerr… Vera’s felt nothing but ice in her veins since The Great War, but Justin’s dark-eyed gaze has her burning up!

With a key to The Chatsfield’s legendary Dream Suite, he offers her one night only… Resisting their chemistry is impossible, but hoping for more than one frenzied night is Vera’s biggest risk of all!

The Couple in the Dream Suite

Marguerite Kaye

Historical Note

As far as I know, there’s never been a gossip columnist called Cordelia Confidential, but the 1920s did see the beginnings of this feature in the main popular newspapers, and I based mine on an excerpt from the Daily Mail published around about the same time. Some of the party goers Cordelia mentions in the article which opens this story were real people. Lady Eleanor Smith, Elizabeth Ponsonby, Zita and Baby Jungman, are credited by D J Taylor, as some of the original Bright Young Things whose story is told in his excellent book of the same name. Charlie Chaplin was a superstar by 1921, though he didn’t actually visit London until September of that year, and to be honest, I’ve no idea at all where Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford really were when I added them to the Chatsfield’s illustrious guest list – they were just married a few weeks earlier.

While there are a number of newspapers called The People’s Tribune published currently, to my knowledge there was none in circulation when Red Lancaster wrote his articles for them. He is entirely my own invention, though his rhetoric is my very small tribute to JB Priestley’s English Journey, which was published in 1933.

There has recently been some debate about the ‘true’ state of the economy in the immediate post-war years, with the extent of the depression, and the impact of unemployment being questioned by some economic historians. The unemployment figures quoted in Red’s article are, however, factual, and what matters to me, in this book, is the perception of how things were at the time. There was a growing and significant amount of industrial unrest. Britain was no longer the great industrial power it had once been. Growth was slow. ‘Real’ wages were falling. Conditions, for the majority of the working-class, were abominable – and you only have to read Priestly to get a taste of this, a decade later.

Which does not mean that the Great War changed nothing – I’ve touched on some of those very significant changes in my World War I trilogy, Never Forget Me. And to end on a positive note, I’d like to think that in the 1922 General Election, Justin Yorke, aided by his wife Vera (who, if she’d had her thirtieth birthday by then, would have been a voter for the first time) would become one of the newly-elected MPs. I’d like to think that Justin and Vera’s happy ever after really did allow them to make a difference.

Contents

Cover

Blurb

Title Page

Dear Reader Note:

Chatsfield Chatter

How Justin Met Vera

Reflections

Dream a Little Dream

Revelation and Unravellings

Wet Dreams

Dare to Dream

Chatsfield, The Next Chapter

About the Author

Discover The Chatsfield

Copyright

Chatsfield Chatter

It’s the place everyone’s talking about, and it’s where everybody who is anybody will be – including yours truly!

Mr DAVID CHATSFIELD’S brand new hotel in Mayfair will open tonight with what promises to be the party of the Season. The smart set, who need no introduction from me, will be there: LADY ELEANOR SMITH, Miss ELIZABETH PONSONBY, and of course the Misses ZITA and BABY JUNGMAN with their eponymous escorts, to name but a few. The world of the silver screen will be represented by the nation’s favourite tramp, Mr CHARLIE CHAPLIN, and that golden couple, Miss MARY PICKFORD and Mr DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS.

So what’s in store for us beside oodles of champagne? A selection of dishes designed to tempt the most jaded of palettes will be served in the Chatsfield’s white and gold dining room, which has been designed to resemble a wedding cake. The hotel’s foyer, resplendent with Romanesque arches and pillars, will be set up to provide guests with entertainment, including some songs written especially for the occasion by Mr NOEL COWARD.

Rumour has it that the very beautiful Miss VERA MILTON-KERR will be celebrating the occasion with a unique and strictly one-off appearance on stage. Miss Milton-Kerr, as regular readers of this column will know, is the long-term glamorous companion of one of London’s most eligible bachelors, Mr DEXTER MAXWELL. Will Mr Maxwell use this auspicious occasion to make their relationship official? If so, you can guarantee that you’ll hear it from me first.

Dancing at the Chatsfield Hotel will take place in the Mirror Ballroom, and will without a shadow of a doubt go on until dawn, so it’s just as well that yours truly has invested in a new pair of slippers. Then into the wee small hours? Well, I’m not one to gossip, but the hotel boasts a number of extravagant suites, each with their own unique style. As to who will have the honour of occupying that most decadent of all, the Dream Suite? Darlings, just watch this space!

Cordelia Confidential, Daily Express, 29 April 1921

It’s no longer the done thing, I’m told, to talk about the War. A new generation of the elite, those privileged few with wealth and power, want us to put those bleak years behind us. If one were to believe the gossip columns in the popular press, the only thing this new generation are interested in is partying all night and sleeping all day.

Is this true? I hope not.

In February unemployment exceeded one million. The chances are that it will top two million by the summer. The current miners’ strike is only one of a record number of pay disputes going on all across Britain. Our country is no longer a green and pleasant land, but a land of mass unemployment and mass misery. Too many families who sacrificed their fathers, husbands and sons to the Great War have been rewarded with the humiliation of the dole.

We have been wounded, as a people and a nation, by that War to end all Wars. Until we can reward those who fought in the trenches with a better world, with that simplest of things, a decent wage for a decent day’s work, we cannot forget. We must never forget.

‘Red’ Lancaster, The People’s Tribune , 29 April 1921

How Justin Met Vera

The foyer at the Chatsfield Hotel was how Justin Yorke imagined the vestibule of a huge Roman villa would be. One enormous gallery, divided into three spaces by two sets of arches and pillars. Though the floors were not tessellated, each one was set with an ornate marble pattern, black and white cheques leading to blue and cream diamonds, leading to brown and red-veined modernistic swirls. The fountain of champagne glasses stacked six tiers high was set up in the first space, the entrance to the hotel, where the privileged guests would register for their privileged suites. They would be taken there in the gilded lift with its plush red seats, for heaven forfend they have to stand for the few minutes it took to climb to their privileged heights. In the meantime, their mountains of luggage would be hoisted up the back stairs by some poor soul sweating in a preposterous outfit that no doubt reminded him of the uniform he’d left off in the fields of France a few years before.

Justin metaphorically rolled his eyes. Five minutes he’d been here, and he was already on his high horse. The point was not to judge, but to observe. Maybe even do as Dex bid him, and try to remember how to enjoy himself. Maybe.

The stage was set up in the space between the two sets of colonnades. Where future guests would take afternoon tea, there was a crush of night-club style tables for the audience. Soft wall lights were shaded by plaster fans and scallop shells. The air was heady with the scent of hothouse flowers, perfume, powder and too many bodies. A haze of cigarette smoke curled around the huge chandelier that formed its own galaxy of stars in the centre of the room. Almost every woman present puffed from a long cigarette holder. Smoking was no longer improper, merely shocking, and shocking was de rigeur these days. It was not only faces that were powdered but knees too. Lips were painted. Eyes were heavily underlined. Hemlines were rising.

Before the War, Justin would have been part of the crowd, dancing, laughing, drinking and rutting from dusk till dawn. Looking around the room, at the couture dresses, the silks and satins and diamonds and furs, at the sleek, the too-well-fed and deliberately under-fed, the rich, the famous and the elite that he’d been born into, gone to school with and served with, reminded him that he had everything and nothing in common with them. It made him uncomfortable. Was he a hypocrite? Given the choice, wouldn’t almost everyone do what they were doing? Would it really make a difference if they stayed at home and vented their spleen as he did? He doubted it. All very well to despise them in theory, but pretty much impossible in practice. It wasn’t the party-goers who were in the wrong, but the world.

The piano at which Noel Coward had sat was being moved to one side. The man really did have the rapier-like wit they all talked about, and the ability to lampoon without turning the crowd against him. Perhaps it was because Coward was one of them, laughing at himself as much as his audience. While Justin…

He sighed impatiently. He had no idea what he was doing. A sense of hopelessness enveloped him. He wished to hell he’d stayed away. He didn’t belong here anymore, but it brought home to him the fact he no longer belonged anywhere. Was he lonely? He hadn’t considered this before. He was certainly feeling very much alone tonight.

‘Here, old boy, get this down you.’ Dex removed the untouched glass of champagne, substituting it with a tumbler of amber liquor. ‘Scotch,’ he added, ‘plain enough, even for you. Drink up, and just for once try to relax.’

Justin grimaced. ‘Sorry. Am I such a pain in the backside? No, don’t answer that,’ he said, grinning. ‘To the Chatsfield. May it become all the rage.’

Dex raised his glass. ‘Oh, I expect that’s already determined, with David Chatsfield in charge. You don’t fool me you know. You’re wishing the place would go up in flames.’

‘No.’ Justin took a swallow of whisky. ‘I’m wishing the world was a different place, that’s all.’

‘You won’t get any argument from me there,’ Dex said, frowning down at his half-empty champagne glass. ‘It’s time for a change. That’s why I asked you here.’

‘Twisted my arm, more like.’

‘I’d have dragged you kicking and screaming if I had to.’

‘Why? What’s going on?’

Dex smiled. ‘I’m leaving. Actually, I’m emigrating. I’m going to try my hand in the movie business.’

‘Good God!’ Justin took a large swallow of whisky. ‘I didn’t see that one coming. When?’

His friend laughed. ‘Tomorrow, actually. Hence the invite. This is my last night in London.’

‘Bloody hell, Dex, why so sudden? Do you know anything about the movie business?’

‘No, but I have a friend who does. A very particular friend.’ Dex smiled awkwardly. ‘You know how I am, what I am. I’m sick and tired of pretending. In California, I hope I won’t have to. And as to the movie business – I have pots of money, and I have sound judgement and an eye for a good investment. More importantly, I need a change. And so, dear boy, do you.’

‘What do you mean?’ Dex smiled, the smile the gossip columnists called winsome. Justin was neither won nor impressed. Justin folded his arms. ‘What’s going on?’

His friend looked not the least bit intimidated. ‘What’s going on, is that I’m tying up loose ends, and doing you a favour in the process. As you might know if you read the gossip columns, I have a girl. A very lovely girl. I’d like you to take her on.’ Dex held up his hand to prevent Justin from speaking. ‘I know, I know, you don’t need a girl, and even if you did, you don’t need me to find one for you. Well, you’re wrong on both counts. I don’t know what happened to you after the War or why you disappeared off the face of the earth. I’ve never asked, because I always hoped you’d trust me enough – but you didn’t, so I’ve no idea, and I’m not asking you now. I do know you’re as miserable as sin, and you’re lonely as hell. Trust me, I recognise the symptoms.’

Flushed, Dex took another sip of his champagne. He was waiting for a response, but Justin didn’t have one. Nothing. Not even a comment on the fact that this was probably the longest and most personal speech Dex had ever made to him, because that would mean he agreed with what Dex was saying, or at least thought it was up for discussion and it wasn’t.

‘So,’ Dexter said, nodding to himself, ‘I decided. What you need is a girl, and what I need is to get rid of a girl, so you’d be doing me a favour taking her off my hands, because this girl isn’t just any girl.’

‘Forget it.’ Justin pushed back his chair. Everyone was back at the tables, crowded up at the stage. He and Dex were in the front row. It wasn’t going to be easy to get out, but he was going to try.

But Dex had other ideas, grabbing his arm in an extremely firm grip. ‘Sit down.’ The lights dimmed, and the band which had appeared on stage struck up a chord. ‘I said, sit down, Justin.’

Seeing that he had no option but to do so, Justin sat.

‘Thank you,’ Dex said with a thin smile. ‘Now, indulge me. Finish your drink and watch the floor show.’

Justin drank. On the stage there was a cake. A huge white and gold cake, decorated uncannily like the Chatsfield’s dining room, and possibly the biggest cake Justin had ever seen. It had been pushed on there by a posse of very scantily clad girls. Every one of them was platinum blonde, every one of them dressed in a tiny white dress trimmed with long fringes that were no doubt meant to pay lip service to decency, and in fact did the exact opposite. The girls were strewing gold confetti and doing some sort of dance that showed off their only-just-covered little behinds. The men in the audience were roaring their appreciation. It was utterly over the top, and yet at the same time it was amusing and curiously sweet rather than vulgar.

‘What, are you expecting me to pick one? Let me remind you, this is 1921 Dex, things have changed. Women not much older than these ones will be able to vote in the next election, I doubt very much…’

‘Can you not drop the politics for one night?’ Dex rolled his eyes. ‘I told you, it’s not just any girl, it’s my girl. Not that she ever has been my girl in that sense, as you must be perfectly well aware. Vera Milton-Kerr. She’s beautiful, she’s clever, she’s witty and I’m sure she’s also very sexy, if you like that sort of thing, though as you know it’s not my cup of tea. I am pretty certain she will be yours though.’

‘Dex, I…’

‘And here she is.’

And there she was. Coming out of the cake. Glossy black hair cut into a sharp, short cap. Smokey eyes rimmed with black. Full lips painted crimson. Gold dress. At least Justin thought it was a dress, though it clung to her curves like a gold mist, and the long fringes that passed for a skirt did nothing to hide the most curvaceous behind, and the most glorious pair of pins he’d ever seen.

Vera Milton-Kerr stepped out of the cake like Venus rising from the waves, and the waves weren’t the only thing rising at the sight of her, all but naked, the expression on her face sultry, her smile mocking. She knew exactly how she looked, she knew exactly what effect she was having, and she didn’t give a damn. It was that which piqued his interest. That which kept him watching, when he should have been walking.

She stood centre-stage, directly in front of him. David Chatsfield had appeared by her side. She was singing. It took Justin’s scrambled brain a moment to work out what she was singing. Happy Birthday. Her voice was smoky, like her eyes. Slightly off-key. Gold petals were raining down on the stage and on the audience now. David Chatsfield was declaring the hotel open. The band struck up, and the dancers began to shake their fringes. The audience were on their feet clapping. There were cheers and the popping of many more champagne bottles to fill another tiered fountain of glasses which had materialised at the back of the room.

And there she was. This time, standing in front of him.

‘Vera, I’d like you to meet one of my oldest friends, Justin Yorke. Justin, Miss Vera Milton-Kerr,’ Dex was saying. ‘She lives like a vampire, up all night and sleeping all day, and underneath that delightful exterior she’s every bit as miserable as you. I think you will be absolutely perfect for each other.’

Dex took the woman’s hands in his. ‘Darling, the time has come for us to end our little charade. I’m afraid I told you a tiny little lie about my leaving date. I’m off tomorrow, not next month, but I promise I’ll write just as soon as I get there. Consider Justin my parting gift to you. Enjoy, you sweet thing, for my sake if not for yours.’

‘And this is my parting gift to you,’ Dex murmured, for Justin’s ears only, slipping something into the pocket of his dinner suit jacket. ‘Make sure you use it, because I had to use every little bit of my influence with David Chatsfield to get hold of it.’ With a flutter of his fingers, and without a backward glance, he disappeared into the crowd.

Vera stared at Dexter’s back in consternation. ‘What the hell is he playing at?’

‘You really don’t know?’

She whirled round. Justin Yorke was eyeing her sceptically.

‘I really don’t. Do you think I was in on this?’

He shrugged. Vera studied him, making no attempt to disguise the fact that was what she was doing. Tall, well-built, he filled his dinner suit nicely. Not handsome, his face was too craggy for that. Dark-brown hair with a rebellious wave that he didn’t bother trying to tame. Dark-brown eyes, deep-set under heavy brows. If it were not for that mouth, he would be quite intimidating. It was curling up into the faintest of smiles now, and it was a nice smile. Or it looked like it could be, if he ever let it finish.

‘I knew he was leaving,’ she conceded, ‘but I had no idea it was so soon. I’m sort of glad he didn’t tell me, mind you. I hate goodbyes as much as he does.’

‘What will you do without him, find another stool pigeon?’

Vera made a show of adjusting the gold sash of the gold dress she had pulled on over her skimpy stage outfit. It was one of Fortuny’s famous Delphos gowns, a sleeveless shift of silk made of hundreds of tiny pleats which clung to the body thanks to the beads which weighted it. It shimmered when she moved, a sensual, smoothly-rippling feeling that made her think of water flowing over a cold stone. She could sense him watching her. She was used to men watching her. She had the kind of body that men liked. A fluke of nature that she exploited, but which, like pretty much everything else, left her cold. Usually.

‘What do you mean?’ she asked warily.

‘Precisely what you think I mean,’ Justin replied. ‘I’ve known Dexter Maxwell for a long time, Miss Milton-Kerr, he’s one of my best friends.’

Which meant – which could not possibly mean – unless she’d got it horribly wrong, which shouldn’t matter, absolutely should not. ‘It’s Vera,’ she said, because she had to say something while she tried to decide what it was she really wanted to say. ‘Verity, actually, though no-one calls me that.’

‘Because it isn’t true? Or have you heard that before?’

‘How close are you and Dexter?’

‘About as close as you and he are, and not as close as you’re imagining.’

‘I wasn’t imagining anything.’

‘Yes, I see why you dropped Verity.’

Despite herself, she smiled. ‘You tell me then, Mr Yorke, what was it I was imagining?’

‘It’s Justin.’ The room was all but empty now, for the dancing had started. He brushed a gold petal from the top of her arm. His touch made her shiver. He bent down towards her, tucking her hair back behind her ear. ‘You were wondering if Dexter and I were similarly inclined,’ he said. His voice was low, his breath a whisper on her ear.

Her heart was thumping unevenly. ‘And are you?’ she asked, though she didn’t need to.

She felt the rumble of his laughter. ‘No. Are you?’

‘I?’

‘Do you like girls, Vera?’

‘No more than Dexter does. Would you like it if I did, Mr Yorke?’

‘Justin. And no, I would not like it if you did. In fact I’m very pleased to hear that you don’t.’

His smile was wicked. That thing he was doing to her neck, touching, stroking, fluttering, whatever it was, that was wicked too. It was making her feel wicked, and she hadn’t felt wicked in a very long time. Vera smiled back. She reached up to touch him, finger tips straying over his temple, behind his ear, to rest lightly on the back of his neck. She felt him tense. She heard the faint intake of his breath, and that made her feel even more wicked. ‘How pleased?’ she asked, choosing to ignore his implied question.

‘About this much,’ he said.

He kissed her. It wasn’t really a kiss. His lips merely grazed hers. Not even enough to make her worry about her lip rouge, though it was enough to make her heart jump into her throat, and to make her inhale just a little too sharply. Not much of a kiss, but enough to make her want more, which was something she hadn’t wanted in a long time. All this she thought, as his lips touched hers, as his fingers ruffled the sleek cap of her razor-cut hair, and then it was over, and she was left wondering if she’d imagined it. Not the kiss, but the effect.

‘I wouldn’t count that as so very pleased,’ Vera said with something like her usual coolness.

‘Really? But what else could I have done, within the bounds of decency?’

His fingers were doing that thing again, on her shoulder this time. ‘Oh, if you’re going to worry about decency,’ Vera said, ‘you should have confined yourself to kissing my hand.’

He took her hand. He lifted it to his mouth. His lips on her palm. His eyes, watching her as he kissed her, his tongue flicking over her skin. She wished her gown didn’t cling quite so much, for it gave her breathing away.

‘Decent enough for you?’ Justin asked her.

It was the way he was looking at her that made her do it. Teasing. Taunting. Daring. It had nothing to do with the way his mouth and his tongue on her skin were making her feel, and everything to do with a simple need to get even. ‘I don’t know,’ she said, dragging her hand from his mouth, pulling his hand to her mouth. ‘You tell me.’

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