Read Online All Change: Cazalet Chronicles by Elizabeth Jane Howard - Free Book Online

point in his taking a share in Home Place, where Diana, in spite of protestations to the contrary, had never felt comfortable. He would have to talk to Hugh about it. The trouble with the family was not property but lack of cash. Too much of the firm’s capital was tied up in property. They not only owned Home Place and his parents’ house in Regent’s Park, on a long and expensive lease, but two valuable wharves in London, one in Southampton and very expensive offices in Westminster. The overheads on all this were not being earned by the sale of enough timber. He had tried several times to discuss this with Hugh, but he had refused to consider selling off anything and, as head of the firm, he had the ultimate say. And Rupe, bless his heart, would always agree with the last person he’d talked to.
    These thoughts now made him feel queasy. He was prone to indigestion these days, and the condition was not helped by the faint but unmistakable stench of vomit. He remembered a trick he had learned in the trenches in the first war, and picked up a box of matches lying on the table for lighting the candles, struck one and let it burn itself out. Hugh noticed this at once, and a small but infinitely comforting look passed between them. He handed the box to his brother who repeated the action. The air cleared, and some of those round the table set about the strawberry shortcake, and soon Zoë was explaining Juliet’s absence, staying with a best friend and shopping for jeans.
    Clary said, ‘It’s funny, isn’t it? When I was Juliet’s age, I never minded what I wore.’
    ‘It’s a good thing you didn’t. Apart from clothes coupons, there weren’t any clothes.’
    ‘I remember you made me two frocks. You made them even after I was so horrible to you. It must have been awful being a stepmother.’
    These remarks engendered a good deal of affection – from Rupert and Zoë and Archie, who said, ‘She still doesn’t mind much. So I choose her clothes.’
    Rachel, making a valiant effort, said, ‘When I was young, the Duchy always made me wear pinafores. And if I was going to a party, and was dressed in lots of white petticoats under my party dress, she made me sit on a table until it was time to go.’
    ‘I remember you doing that,’ Hugh said. ‘But at least you weren’t dolled up in sailor suits, like Edward and me. Rupert escaped all that.’
    Rupert, who immediately thought of what else he had escaped – the nightmare of trench warfare that his older brothers had endured – spoke quietly: ‘It’s a pity, really, because I simply loved dressing up. You remember that old black tin trunk we had full of dressing-up clothes? Well, once, when our parents were giving a garden party, I dressed up as a girl in a heavily beaded pink dress – you know, one of those tubes that flappers used to wear – with a silver lamé turban and an ostrich fan. I went out onto the lawn and the Brig was furious, but the Duchy simply laughed and told me to go back into the house, change, then come back and help hand round the cucumber sandwiches.’
    There was a short silence before Rachel said that, if they would forgive her, she would see how Sid was, and then she would go to bed. The men all rose and Archie, who was nearest, opened the door for her, then closed it.
    ‘Ring for Eileen to fetch the plates, Rupe.’
    ‘Hugh, it’s nearest to you.’
    Hugh fumbled under the table where Rachel had been sitting. Edward went to the sideboard to get the port. Clary said, ‘If the ladies are meant to withdraw at this point, I think I’ll withdraw to bed. Goodnight, all.’
    Zoë said, ‘I’ll wait in the drawing room until Jemima returns and then I’ll be off as well.’
    Eileen, having removed the pudding plates, asked if the gentlemen would like their coffee in the dining room.
    ‘Anyone for coffee?’ Hugh asked, but nobody seemed to want it. Eileen was told to take the tray to the drawing room and, yes, that would be all. There