Read Online A Proper Family Christmas by Jane Gordon - Cumming - Free Book Online

round…”
    â€œThere’s nothing wrong with Julia and Tony’s house, as far as I know!” Leo’s mouth curled into the self-satisfied expression he adopted when affecting irony.
    â€œI expect, when they heard the others were going…” Hilary wished she’d stuck to the train. She’d forgotten how exhausting it was to be on the defensive all the time.
    â€œA gathering of the clan,” mused Leo, overtaking a Jaguar on the inside lane. “Uncle William sees Father Time beckoning, and is considering the disposition of his estate. Will it be to Gentle Julia, or does he favour male ascendency? Stephen has taken the precaution of getting himself a wife and a male heir to carry on the Shirburn name. That was lucky. It means he doesn’t have to mate with the ghastly Lesley more than once…”
    â€œI’m sure you’ve got it wrong. It was Lesley who was so keen on getting married and having a baby…”
    â€œThat’s what I like about you, Hilary.” He took his eye off the road to smile kindly at her. “ - You always think the best of people.”
    Hilary drew a breath to defend herself against this unwarranted slur, but caught herself in time.
    Leo braked to avoid the car he had nearly ploughed into. “I’m interested in what makes people tick - you have to be, as a writer,” he said, as if it were a chore.
    Hilary didn’t break the family rule of never asking Leo how his book was going in case he told you, desperate though she was for a change of subject.
    He raked a hand through his rather over-long hairstyle, relic of the teenage-rebel image he had never dropped. “No, you don’t want to underestimate William,” he went on. “Just because he’s old and eccentric, you mustn’t make the mistake of thinking he’s stupid.”
    â€œNo,” said Hilary, who never had. “Don’t you think he might divide the estate equally between them?”
    â€œThat would mean selling off Haseley. He’d never agree to that. And it would be a white elephant without the funds to maintain it, so the house and William’s money must go as a package deal.”
    Hilary turned to admire the view of motorway embankment beside her, and tried to quench the curl of embarrassment she felt at being invited to discuss somebody else’s money.
    â€œYes, this way Father William gets them both dancing to his tune until they see which way the wind blows.”
    Being a writer didn’t seem to inhibit Leo from mixing his metaphors, Hilary noticed.
    â€œI’m sure they’ve got more sense…” she ventured.
    â€œStephen’s a don, so that precludes him from having any sense by definition.”
    Hilary smiled politely.
    â€œRatso’s only a College secretary or something…”
    â€œLibrarian.”
    â€œJulia’s far too soft-hearted to know when someone’s stringing her along. And you can forget Tony - charming, but a total airhead. Oh, they’ll dance all right! It should be rather amusing.” Leo celebrated his forthcoming pleasure by putting his foot down.
    Hilary shut her eyes against the bridges flashing past and pretended to doze.
    â€œOf course you mustn’t forget your interest in all this, Hilary.”
    She jumped in spite of herself. “I beg your pardon?”
    Leo shot her a satisfied glance, his hooded eyes over that large nose making him look even more like a smug eagle.
    â€œHaseley should have gone to Mother, as the eldest child, not William, merely because he was a boy. It would then have passed to Ben - and, of course, to his widow and son.”
    He eyed her again, but this time she had herself under control.
    â€œBut it didn’t go to Margery.”
    â€œNo, but if William were to pre-decease her, there would be a good case for arguing that she was his natural heir.”
    â€œOh come on, Leo! Margery’s very comfortably