Страница 5 из 29
‘Oh, I’d like it.’ Her tone was dry. ‘But Egypt’s expensive, my dear. Not for those who have to count the pe
Tim laughed. He rose, stretched himself. Suddenly he looked alive and eager. There was an excited note in his voice.
‘The expense will be my affair. Yes, darling. A little flutter on the Stock Exchange. With thoroughly satisfactory results. I heard this morning.’
‘This morning?’ said Mrs Allerton sharply. ‘You only had one letter and that-’
She stopped and bit her lip.
Tim looked momentarily undecided whether to be amused or a
‘And that was from Joa
Mrs Allerton looked rather cross.
‘I just happened to see the handwriting-’
‘And knew it wasn’t that of a stockbroker? Quite right. As a matter of fact it was yesterday I heard from them. Poor Joa
‘What does Joa
Mrs Allerton strove to make her voice sound casual and ordinary. The friendship between her son and his second cousin, Joa
It was not because Mrs Allerton feared that Tim might fall in love with Joa
It was some other feeling hard to define – perhaps an unacknowledged jealousy in the unfeigned pleasure Tim always seemed to take in Joa
In answer to her question, Tim pulled the letter out of his pocket and glanced through it. It was quite a long letter, his mother noted.
‘Nothing much,’ he said. ‘The Devenishes are getting a divorce. Old Monty’s been had up for being drunk in charge of a car. Windlesham’s gone to Canada. Seems he was pretty badly hit when Li
‘How extraordinary! Is he very dreadful?’
‘No, no, not at all. He’s one of the Devonshire Doyles. No money, of course – and he was actually engaged to one of Li
‘I don’t think it’s at all nice,’ said Mrs Allerton, flushing.
Tim flashed her a quick affectionate glance.
‘I know, darling. You don’t approve of snaffling other people’s husbands and all that sort of thing.’
‘In my day we had our standards,’ said Mrs Allerton. ‘And a very good thing too! Nowadays young people seem to think they can just go about doing anything they choose.’
Tim smiled.
‘They don’t only think it. They do it. Vide Li
‘Well, I think it’s horrid!’
Tim twinkled at her.
‘Cheer up, you old die-hard! Perhaps I agree with you. Anyway, I haven’t helped myself to anyone’s wife or fiancée yet.’
‘I’m sure you’d never do such a thing,’ said Mrs Allerton. She added with spirit, ‘I’ve brought you up properly.’
‘So the credit is yours, not mine.’
He smiled teasingly at her as he folded the letter and put it away again. Mrs Allerton let the thought just flash across her mind: ‘Most letters he shows to me. He only reads me snippets from Joa
But she put the unworthy thought away from her, and decided, as ever, to behave like a gentlewoman.
‘Is Joa
‘So so. Says she thinks of opening a delicatessen shop in Mayfair.’
‘She always talks about being hard up,’ said Mrs Allerton with a tinge of spite, ‘but she goes about everywhere and her clothes must cost her a lot. She’s always beautifully dressed.’
‘Ah, well,’ said Tim, ‘she probably doesn’t pay for them. No, mother, I don’t mean what your Edwardian mind suggests to you. I just mean quite literally that she leaves her bills unpaid.’
Mrs Allerton sighed.
‘I never know how people manage to do that.’
‘It’s a kind of special gift,’ said Tim. ‘If only you have sufficiently extravagant tastes, and absolutely no sense of money values, people will give you any amount of credit.’
‘Yes, but you come to the Bankruptcy Court in the end like poor Sir George Wode.’
‘You have a soft spot for that old horse coper – probably because he called you a rosebud in 1879 at a dance.’
‘I wasn’t born in 1879,’ Mrs Allerton retorted with spirit. ‘Sir George has charming ma
‘I’ve heard fu
‘You and Joa
Tim raised his eyebrows.
‘My dear, you’re quite heated. I didn’t know old Wode was such a favourite of yours.’
‘You don’t realize how hard it was for him, having to sell Wode Hall. He cared terribly about that place.’
Tim suppressed the easy retort. After all, who was he to judge? Instead he said thoughtfully:
‘You know, I think you’re not far wrong there. Li
‘Of course. She ought to have known better than to ask him.’
‘And I believe he’s quite venomous about her – mutters things under his breath whenever he sees her. Can’t forgive her for having given him an absolutely top price for the worm-eaten family estate.’
‘And you can’t understand that?’ Mrs Allerton spoke sharply.
‘Frankly,’ said Tim calmly, ‘I can’t. Why live in the past? Why cling on to things that have been?’
‘What are you going to put in their place?’
He shrugged his shoulders.
‘Excitement, perhaps. Novelty. The joy of never knowing what may turn up from day to day. Instead of inheriting a useless tract of land, the pleasure of making money for yourself – by your own brains and skill.’
‘A successful deal on the Stock Exchange, in fact!’
He laughed:
‘Why not?’
‘And what about an equal loss on the Stock Exchange?’
‘That, dear, is rather tactless. And quite inappropriate today… What about this Egypt plan?’
‘Well-’
He cut in smiling at her:
‘That’s settled. We’ve both always wanted to see Egypt.’
‘When do you suggest?’
‘Oh, next month. January’s about the best time there. We’ll enjoy the delightful society in this hotel a few weeks longer.’