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Authors: Elizabeth Jane Howard
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was a faint, but unmistakable feeling of tension in the air.
The port went round and all four men filled their glasses.
Hugh said: ‘Before we start on things that have to be done, I suggest we all drink a toast to our dear mother and,’ looking at Archie, ‘friend.’
So they all stood and did that.
This seemed to lighten things a little. When they sat down, cigarettes were lit, in Edward’s case a cigar.
‘With Rachel’s agreement,’ Hugh began, ‘I went to see the vicar to organise a date for the funeral, and we agreed on Monday week. I asked for next Saturday, but it was not convenient, so it will be at eleven thirty on the twenty-fifth. I have also drafted announcements for The Times and the Telegraph to appear this Monday. I have included the time and place of the funeral for people who may want to attend it. That’s as far as I got.’
Rupert said, ‘Did Rachel say anything about where she wants to live?’
‘Nothing. Only that she didn’t want to keep the London house.’
‘It belongs to the firm anyway,’ Edward said. ‘That’s something we can sell, at least.’
‘I can’t understand why you’re so keen on selling anything. The Brig always said that property was the best investment of capital and, as chairman of the firm, I have every intention of following his advice.’
‘Well, perhaps you’ve forgotten that the firm also owns Home Place. Rachel surely won’t want to live here on her own, and it’s worth a hell of a lot more than when the Brig bought it. If we sold that, we could buy Rachel a nice little house or flat in London.’
‘You surely don’t want to get rid of the place where we’ve all spent so much of our lives, where our children grew up, which was our home during the last war? You cannot want to do that!’
Oh dear, Archie thought, as he looked helplessly at Rupert. I feel just like Hugh, only I can’t do anything about it.
But Rupert came to the rescue. ‘I agree with Hugh,’ he said. ‘I feel that even if Rachel doesn’t want to live here we could all chip in and keep the house, for her, for the children and, speaking for myself, for me.’
At this point they all looked at Edward.
He stirred uncomfortably in his chair. ‘For goodness’ sake, don’t think that I don’t care about the house. The fact is that Diana wants to live in the country, and that will mean my selling the lease on Ranulf Road, for which I shan’t get much as it has only ten years to run, and buying somewhere. I’m fairly strapped for cash as it is, really not in a position to pay for a second property.’
Hugh began to say that that left three of them, and almost at the same time Archie, very tentatively, suggested that perhaps they should wait until Rachel had been consulted. And also, was it possible that the Duchy had expressed some wishes about it in her will?
This seemed to lower the temperature a bit. Rupert agreed that there was not much point in pursuing the subject any further, and they fell back on reminiscing about the early days of Home Place, the Brig facing the Duchy with all manner of stray and unknown guests, and how the Duchy had comforted the young Jewish nurses from the Babies’ Hotel when it was evacuated to Home Place during the war by inviting them in the evening for tea and biscuits and Beethoven on the gramophone. Affection slowly replaced sibling differences.
Then Jemima came down to tell them that Sid had settled for the night, and had been asleep when Rachel came to see her, and they all decided to call it a day.
Zoë undressed in the familiar room with its wallpaper of peacocks and chrysanthemums, then sat in front of her dressing-table mirror, cleansing her face and remembering the first time she had come here, how nervous she had felt. Her clothes had seemed all wrong, and though she had been welcomed as Rupert’s wife, she had felt that she would never fit in, would never withstand Clary’s hostility, could never be a stepmother. Well, to
The port went round and all four men filled their glasses.
Hugh said: ‘Before we start on things that have to be done, I suggest we all drink a toast to our dear mother and,’ looking at Archie, ‘friend.’
So they all stood and did that.
This seemed to lighten things a little. When they sat down, cigarettes were lit, in Edward’s case a cigar.
‘With Rachel’s agreement,’ Hugh began, ‘I went to see the vicar to organise a date for the funeral, and we agreed on Monday week. I asked for next Saturday, but it was not convenient, so it will be at eleven thirty on the twenty-fifth. I have also drafted announcements for The Times and the Telegraph to appear this Monday. I have included the time and place of the funeral for people who may want to attend it. That’s as far as I got.’
Rupert said, ‘Did Rachel say anything about where she wants to live?’
‘Nothing. Only that she didn’t want to keep the London house.’
‘It belongs to the firm anyway,’ Edward said. ‘That’s something we can sell, at least.’
‘I can’t understand why you’re so keen on selling anything. The Brig always said that property was the best investment of capital and, as chairman of the firm, I have every intention of following his advice.’
‘Well, perhaps you’ve forgotten that the firm also owns Home Place. Rachel surely won’t want to live here on her own, and it’s worth a hell of a lot more than when the Brig bought it. If we sold that, we could buy Rachel a nice little house or flat in London.’
‘You surely don’t want to get rid of the place where we’ve all spent so much of our lives, where our children grew up, which was our home during the last war? You cannot want to do that!’
Oh dear, Archie thought, as he looked helplessly at Rupert. I feel just like Hugh, only I can’t do anything about it.
But Rupert came to the rescue. ‘I agree with Hugh,’ he said. ‘I feel that even if Rachel doesn’t want to live here we could all chip in and keep the house, for her, for the children and, speaking for myself, for me.’
At this point they all looked at Edward.
He stirred uncomfortably in his chair. ‘For goodness’ sake, don’t think that I don’t care about the house. The fact is that Diana wants to live in the country, and that will mean my selling the lease on Ranulf Road, for which I shan’t get much as it has only ten years to run, and buying somewhere. I’m fairly strapped for cash as it is, really not in a position to pay for a second property.’
Hugh began to say that that left three of them, and almost at the same time Archie, very tentatively, suggested that perhaps they should wait until Rachel had been consulted. And also, was it possible that the Duchy had expressed some wishes about it in her will?
This seemed to lower the temperature a bit. Rupert agreed that there was not much point in pursuing the subject any further, and they fell back on reminiscing about the early days of Home Place, the Brig facing the Duchy with all manner of stray and unknown guests, and how the Duchy had comforted the young Jewish nurses from the Babies’ Hotel when it was evacuated to Home Place during the war by inviting them in the evening for tea and biscuits and Beethoven on the gramophone. Affection slowly replaced sibling differences.
Then Jemima came down to tell them that Sid had settled for the night, and had been asleep when Rachel came to see her, and they all decided to call it a day.
Zoë undressed in the familiar room with its wallpaper of peacocks and chrysanthemums, then sat in front of her dressing-table mirror, cleansing her face and remembering the first time she had come here, how nervous she had felt. Her clothes had seemed all wrong, and though she had been welcomed as Rupert’s wife, she had felt that she would never fit in, would never withstand Clary’s hostility, could never be a stepmother. Well, to
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