A Lesser Evil - Lesley Pearse [199]
The waiter served the coffee and petits fours, and after he’d gone Harry got to his feet again, this time a little unsteadily.
‘Not a speech,’ he said. ‘I just wanted to say that Clara and I owe Dan a great deal. He not only took Fifi off our hands, he did it in such a way we didn’t have to fork out for the wedding.’
Clara gasped indignantly. ‘What a thing to say, Harry!’ she exclaimed.
‘It was a joke, dear,’ Harry said with a sigh. ‘Can’t you hear everyone laughing?’
Dan was spluttering with laughter, he loved Harry’s dry sense of humour.
‘If I may go on?’ Harry asked giving everyone a mock disapproving look over his glasses. ‘Well, what I’d intended to say has been kind of upstaged by hearing I’m going to be a grandfather. So I’ll just cut to the chase and remind you all again that the first anniversary is paper. I’m glad I’ll be pushing up the daisies when their golden one comes round.’ He handed Dan a large white envelope.
‘What on earth is it?’ Fifi said, looking curiously at her father.
‘Open it and see,’ he said.
Dan opened it and pulled out a glossy brochure of a new housing estate.
‘Our gift is the deposit on one of them,’ Harry said, then sat down rather heavily.
Dan just looked thunderstruck but Fifi realized it was the small estate of houses which were starting to be built around the time they got married. It was about a mile from her parents’ home.
‘You can go and choose the one you like,’ Clara said helpfully. ‘Just make sure you pick one with a south-facing garden.’
A year ago Fifi would have viewed this gift with grave suspicion. She certainly would have seen it as a method of controlling her. But she was older and a great deal wiser now. She knew it was given only because her parents knew she and Dan needed a permanent home of their own. They wanted her and Dan to be happy and secure, in a home with room for children, just as Harry’s parents had done for them. And since her mother had very high standards, excellent taste and would have gone into everything – bus routes, schools and even the nearest doctor – Fifi could expect these houses to be as good as they looked in the brochure.
No more kitchens on landings, sharing a bathroom with strangers. She could even burn a fish pie and no one would be able to complain!
‘That’s so lovely of you,’ she said, joyous tears pricking her eyes. She got up and ran round the table to hug and kiss both her parents. ‘And even more wonderful now we’re going to have a baby.’
‘You’ll have to be sensible and budget to keep up the mortgage repayments,’ Clara said a little waspishly, but her eyes were dancing and Dan knew she wasn’t feeling waspish.
‘It is so generous and kind of you,’ Dan said, getting up too and going over to embrace them both. ‘I’ll make sure you never regret it.’
Everyone around the table was trying to see the brochure, all talking excitedly at once.
‘I don’t like the design of some of the houses,’ Clara said in her more characteristic sharp manner. ‘They’ve put the kitchens at the front on some of them. I ask you! Who wants people to see into your kitchen?’
Dan picked up the brochure and looked at it. ‘I think it would be a good thing for Fifi,’ he said.
‘Why?’ Clara asked.
‘Well, she could do the washing up while she’s watching the neighbours,’ he said.
‘Dan!’ Fifi exclaimed. ‘You know I promised I’d given up being nosy!’
‘A leopard can’t change its spots.’ He laughed. ‘And Idon’t think I’d like you so much if you lost interest in watching people.’
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
A Lesser Evil
Chapter one
Chapter two
Chapter three
Chapter four
Chapter five
Chapter six
Chapter seven
Chapter eight
Chapter nine
Chapter ten
Chapter eleven
Chapter twelve
Chapter thirteen
Chapter fourteen
Chapter fifteen
Chapter sixteen
Chapter seventeen
Chapter eighteen
Chapter nineteen
Chapter twenty
Chapter twenty-one