AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Harriet slipped back into the garden of her grandfather’s house and entered the shrubbery. If she had been missed, she could claim to have been wandering in this evergreen maze designed for shelter on colder or windy days. She hurried through it, conscious of the hour, emerged on the side nearest the house, turned toward the door, and nearly bumped into the burly figure of her grandfather.
“Ha, Harriet,” he said.
She hadn’t seen him in the garden before, and he looked out of place. He was a creature of the city, of offices and counting houses and cobbled streets. She would be surprised if he could tell one sort of tree from another and was certain he didn’t care. More worrying was the fact this would be their first private conversation. Her mother had always hovered over them before.
“Been taking a turn around the grounds? They’re thought to be very fine, you know.”
Anything he owned had to be superlative. Telling herself he had no reason to suspect she’d walked beyond his property, Harriet said, “Yes.”
“You never take any luncheon, I believe.”
“No.”
“That’s why you’re slender as a reed. Shall we walk a little?”
Harriet wanted to refuse, but she could find no reason for such out-and-out rudeness. He started off, and she fell in beside him, using her parasol as a shield. She was nearly as tall as he, she realized. Though he was far broader.
Her grandfather took a gravel path bordered by a glory of flowers, turned left and then right, coming up to a circular bed of red blooms surrounding a statue Harriet hadn’t noticed before. It depicted a plump man sitting cross-legged with a serene smile.
“Ah, there it is,” said her grandfather. “I came out to be sure they’d settled it properly. You’ve never seen anything like that, I expect.”
She shook her head. “What is it?”
“That is Buddha. An Eastern god, you know. I bought him because we’re both fat.” He slapped his ample stomach.
“You think him a god?” It slipped out. And Harriet could hear that it sounded incredulous. Her grandfather had never shown belief in anything besides himself.
“Of course not. I just like the shape of him.” The old man nodded his approval of the installation and turned back the way they’d come. “You don’t care for foreign lands?” he asked.
“What?”
“You look sour whenever I speak of places where I do business. Or perhaps your grand friends have given you a disdain for trade?”
She hadn’t thought he noticed anyone but himself, and she couldn’t interpret his tone. He didn’t sound angry. Yet. “I don’t know a great deal about it,” Harriet replied.
“Next to nothing, I would think. Except that my money paid for your fancy gowns and such.”
She couldn’t resist. “I do know that we British have enriched ourselves in many places around the world. With little regard for the people who live there.”
“Ah.”
Harriet pressed her lips together. Her mother would have a nervous collapse if she alienated her grandfather.
“We’ve also spread a system of law. And industry.”
She couldn’t stop herself. “So we are benefactors.”
“No, mostly we’re just filling our pockets. I certainly did.”
She couldn’t interpret his expression. Was he simply self-satisfied?
“I suppose you would prefer I’d remained a shopkeeper, scraping by from year to year. But where would that leave you now, eh?”
For once in her life, Harriet was speechless.
“You don’t like me.” He gave her a sidelong glance. “Did you think I hadn’t noticed? I’m not stupid.”
Harriet let the parasol dip so she wouldn’t have to face him.
