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‘This awful business’ seems to have the right idea, Ginny thought bitterly as she went off to the kitchen. I’d like to shake her myself.
She threw herself into preparations for the dinner party, doing as much advance food preparation as possible, then cleaning silver, washing glasses, and giving her favourite tablecloth a crisp ironing.
By the time she took the tray with afternoon tea, egg and cress sandwiches and a Victoria sponge into the drawing room, Cilla had come downstairs and was sprawled in an armchair.
‘Did you visit this cottage?’ she asked, without turning her gaze from the old black and white movie she was watching. ‘What’s it like? How many bedrooms?’
‘Two reasonably sized and one like a storage cupboard,’ Ginny returned briefly as she set down the tray.
‘Two?’ Cilla sat up. ‘Did you hear that, Mummy? How on earth are we going to manage?’
Rosina glanced up from her magazine with a catlike smile. ‘We’ll worry about that when it happens, darling. I’ll have lemon with my tea, Virginia,’ she added. ‘I need to be careful about my weight.’
‘Well, I’m never sharing a bedroom,’ Cilla said sharply.
‘Do you include Jonathan in that sweeping statement?’ Ginny asked mildly, handing her mother her tea.
Cilla shrugged. ‘Plenty of married couples have separate bedrooms. It’s supposed to make it more exciting. Retain that air of mystery.’ She giggled. ‘And when you are available—it makes men so much more grateful.’
Ginny took her tea and a sandwich and headed for the door. ‘I never knew you were such a romantic,’ she said drily as she left.
She collected the pile of letters from the hall table and took them to the study where Barney was lying by the newly kindled fire. He looked up as she entered and tentatively thumped his tail on the carpet, clearly bewildered as to why he spent so much time in the kitchen quarters these days.
‘You and me both, sweetie,’ she told him as she sat down.
The letters were just as difficult to deal with as she’d suspected. They were imbued with grief for Andrew’s death and warmth and gratitude for his life. She read about his generosity, his fairness, and his personal kindness, particularly to former members of his workforce.
And after the first half dozen or so, she put her head down on the desk and wept a little, wondering where this man had gone, and why he’d changed so much.
* * *
By Sunday evening, winter had returned inside and out, with brief snow showers adding to the general chill.
Because all Ginny’s attempts to reason with her mother over the caretaker scheme had got nowhere.
‘Then at least ask him privately,’ she’d begged at last, but Rosina waved her away.
‘No, it’s a perfect opportunity,’ she declared buoyantly. ‘The Welburns are our nearest neighbours and he’ll want to make a good impression.’
‘Well, I don’t believe Mr Duchard will give a damn about what the neighbours think of him,’ Ginny returned wearily. ‘His home is in France so he won’t be around long enough to care.’
Her mother tutted impatiently. ‘Really, Virginia. Can you please stop being so negative. It’s very depressing.’
And being a widow isn’t? Ginny thought bitterly.
Working companionably and efficiently with Mrs Pel to produce the meal itself lifted her spirits however, and if she could only have put on her ‘Miss Finn’ pinny and simply served the food without having to join the party round the table, she’d have been happier still.
For one thing, she had no idea what to wear.
Most of the clothes in her wardrobe were of the workaday variety, entirely through her own choice. After a day on her feet in the café, followed by the domestic demands of Barrowdean, she was glad of the excuse to avoid the local social whirl, such as it was.
Lady Welburn had the right idea, she thought wistfully, generally appearing in a series of long skirts in jewel-coloured velvet run up for her by the village dressmaker, and teaming them with plain black cashmere tops.
She, however, would have to wear the Dress. She took it from the wardrobe and pulled a face at it. Mid-calf-length, long-sleeved and high-necked in taupe jersey, it had been bought for the Christmas before last when she was running short of time and temper.
And she could say with total truth it did nothing for her at all, except fit where it touched.
Never mind, she told herself. The best thing you can be at this blighted party is insignificant. And no more bright ideas either. They have this way of coming back to bite you in the rear.
She showered, dried her hair into its usual smooth bob, put on the taupe dress and went downstairs, knowing that neither her mother nor Cilla would put in an appearance until the last minute.
