A Lesser Evil - Lesley Pearse [106]
Fifi nipped out and lit the gas under the kettle. ‘No, Yvette, the lady across the road, made them for me,’ she called back. ‘She’s French, and a fabulous dressmaker. She makes clothes for rich women in Chelsea and Kensington. She gave me those silk cushions for a house-warming present.’
As Fifi came back into the room she found her mother examining one of the cushions.
‘If she can sew like this and has wealthy clients, why does she live here?’ Clara asked.
‘It’s very difficult to find flats in London,’ Fifi said. ‘I’ve been to several letting agencies in the last few days. It’s almost impossible to find anywhere central for less than fifteen pounds a week.’
‘Fifteen pounds a week!’ Clara exclaimed. ‘You could rent a mansion in Bristol for that.’
Over tea, Fifi learned that Robin had got a girlfriend called Anna, who her mother thought was gormless. Peter was drinking too much in her opinion and she didn’t understand why Patty was growing tired of Michael.
Fifi had to smile. It was a first to hear her mother complaining about her other children.
‘It’s sensible to stay in and save money if you want to get married,’ Clara went on about Patty. ‘She doesn’t know when she’s well off. Most young men these days want flashy cars. Michael is so sensible, he rides a bike.’
‘I don’t think “sensible” is very attractive to many girls,’ Fifi said, trying hard to keep a straight face. ‘Besides, I don’t think Patty wants to marry Michael.’
‘I can’t think why not! He’s got a good job in a bank, he’s steady and reliable.’
Patty had described Michael as pudding-faced, unadventurous and inclined to smell of BO because he wore nylon shirts. Now Fifi knew he rode a bike, and was considered steady and reliable by her mother, she thought she’d hate him on sight.
‘Getting married isn’t the be-all and end-all for girls these days,’ she said. ‘I’m glad Patty doesn’t think she has to marry the first man that asks her.’
‘Like you did?’ Clara said waspishly.
‘Dan wasn’t the first to ask me. Hugh did too,’ Fifi said evenly, telling herself she mustn’t rise to her mother’s bait.
‘And I certainly don’t regret marrying him. We are very happy together – it’s our first anniversary next month.’
‘I am well aware of that. From the day you got married I stopped being able to sleep at nights. I had to go to the doctor in the end for some tablets. I wish I could make you see what you’ve done to our family.’
Fifi found she couldn’t ignore that.
‘What exactly have I done to our family?’ she asked.
‘The boys hardly come home any more, Patty’s not the same, and your father blames me for it all.’
‘It’s not my fault that the boys have got out from under your thumb, it’s a sign they are growing up. Patty is changing too for the same reason. If you can’t sleep at night just because I married a man I love, then perhaps you need to see a psychiatrist!’
‘Are you saying I’m mad?’ Clara’s voice rose to a squeak. ‘Any mother would be worried sick when her daughter’s husband mixes with people who attack him in dark alleys, and she consorts with murderers.’
Fifi felt like asking why, if her mother was so worried, she didn’t write to her. There hadn’t been one letter since the curt one after she lost the baby. But instead she decided to deal with more recent issues.
‘Even the police don’t know who attacked Dan, and I do not consort with murderers. Why did you come here today, Mum? I thought for a brief moment it might be because you wanted to make it up. But it isn’t, is it? I bet Dad suggested you came, and you felt you had to go through the motions or he’d be cross with you. What are you going to tell him? That I was impossible as usual?’
‘You are. There’s no talking to you.’
Fifi shook her head despairingly. ‘Mum, you’ve only been here just twenty minutes and yet in that short time you’ve accused me of being a bad influence on Patty and the boys. Of forcing you to take sleeping tablets. You make snide suggestions about Dan and