that I---
'Right.' Iain set his empty glass down on the bar with a satisfied thump, interrupting my thoughts. 'I'm off.'
'You won't forget to deliver my message to Geoff?' Vivien asked, and Iain turned at the door.
'No, I won't forget to deliver your message to Geoff. You know,' he said dourly, 'one or the other of you might learn to use the telephone, and save my aching legs.'
'The walk'll do you good,' she shot back.
'No doubt. I'll see you both tonight, then.'
'He's really a wonderful guy,' Vivien said, as the door banged shut behind him.
'And he reads Shakespeare.'
'That surprised you, did it? Iain read English at Cambridge, believe it or not. That's how he and Geoff met each other.'
'Really? And now he keeps sheep?'
'Mmm. He's a farmer at heart, is Iain. He could have done a lot of things with his life—I mean, he's fairly well set financially, and he's bloody brilliant, when he wants to be. But I think he's happiest mucking around in the dirt.'
'And what did Geoffrey de Mornay study at Cambridge?' I asked her, with what I hoped was the right degree of nonchalance.
"Politics, I think. Not that he needed to. There never was much question where Geoff's future was concerned.' She smiled. 'His grandfather started Morland Electronics.'
'I sec.' It was a bit of a jolt. The blood-red Morland logo was nearly as recognizable as the silhouette of Stonehenge, and almost as awe inspiring. From a small wartime company producing radio equipment, Morland had grown into one of the largest of Britain's multinational firms. Its annual earnings, I guessed, must amount to billions of pounds.
'You haven't met him yet, have you?' Vivien asked.
'Yes, I have, as a matter of fact. Last Thursday evening. We sort of bumped into each other in the lane behind the church.'
'Did you, now? Funny he didn't mention it.' She eyed me curiously. 'Damn good-looking, isn't he? I often think it isn't fair, one person having all that money and a face like that.'
'I imagine he's got every girl in the village chasing after him,' I said. It was a shameless fishing expedition, and Vivien smiled again.
‘I chased him, myself,' she admitted, 'when I was at school. You think he's something BOW, you ought to have seen him then. He'd been five years in California and he had a smashing tan, even spoke with a bit of an American accent.' She half closed her eyes, appreciatively. 'But of course, he lost that rather quickly. Cambridge knocked it out of him.'
'California?' That surprised me. 'What was he doing there?' 'Geoff's parents divorced, when he was eleven. His mother went off with someone else, and Geoff went to America with his father. Morland has a big office there, I gather, near San Francisco. Anyway, Geoff was sixteen when they finally came back. Bit of an adjustment for him, that was,' she said, with another smile. 'He still hasn't made peace with the class system here, and he was even worse back then—he'd mix with anyone. Even me,' she added, grinning. 'Mind you, we were living under the same roof at the time, so it was only good manners, but it did raise some eyebrows. Still does, on occasion.'
I frowned a little, trying to follow. 'You lived at Crofton Hall?' I checked. 'When you were younger?'
'Yes. Sorry, I forgot you wouldn't know.' She flashed a quick, self-conscious smile. 'I do rather have to keep reminding myself, you know, that we've only just met. It sometimes seems like we've been friends for years, do you feel that? Anyway, yes, I did live at the Hall, when I was a little girl. My aunt kept house for Geoff’s dad, you see, and I lived with her. My parents,' she explained, before I asked, 'died in a train crash, years ago. I barely remember them. Aunt Freda brought me up, and did a marvelous job, considering, though I'm sure I gave her every gray hair she has.' She smiled at the memories. 'One night she found out I'd been to the pictures with Geoff, and that was that. She marched me right across the road to my gran's house,
'Right.' Iain set his empty glass down on the bar with a satisfied thump, interrupting my thoughts. 'I'm off.'
'You won't forget to deliver my message to Geoff?' Vivien asked, and Iain turned at the door.
'No, I won't forget to deliver your message to Geoff. You know,' he said dourly, 'one or the other of you might learn to use the telephone, and save my aching legs.'
'The walk'll do you good,' she shot back.
'No doubt. I'll see you both tonight, then.'
'He's really a wonderful guy,' Vivien said, as the door banged shut behind him.
'And he reads Shakespeare.'
'That surprised you, did it? Iain read English at Cambridge, believe it or not. That's how he and Geoff met each other.'
'Really? And now he keeps sheep?'
'Mmm. He's a farmer at heart, is Iain. He could have done a lot of things with his life—I mean, he's fairly well set financially, and he's bloody brilliant, when he wants to be. But I think he's happiest mucking around in the dirt.'
'And what did Geoffrey de Mornay study at Cambridge?' I asked her, with what I hoped was the right degree of nonchalance.
"Politics, I think. Not that he needed to. There never was much question where Geoff's future was concerned.' She smiled. 'His grandfather started Morland Electronics.'
'I sec.' It was a bit of a jolt. The blood-red Morland logo was nearly as recognizable as the silhouette of Stonehenge, and almost as awe inspiring. From a small wartime company producing radio equipment, Morland had grown into one of the largest of Britain's multinational firms. Its annual earnings, I guessed, must amount to billions of pounds.
'You haven't met him yet, have you?' Vivien asked.
'Yes, I have, as a matter of fact. Last Thursday evening. We sort of bumped into each other in the lane behind the church.'
'Did you, now? Funny he didn't mention it.' She eyed me curiously. 'Damn good-looking, isn't he? I often think it isn't fair, one person having all that money and a face like that.'
'I imagine he's got every girl in the village chasing after him,' I said. It was a shameless fishing expedition, and Vivien smiled again.
‘I chased him, myself,' she admitted, 'when I was at school. You think he's something BOW, you ought to have seen him then. He'd been five years in California and he had a smashing tan, even spoke with a bit of an American accent.' She half closed her eyes, appreciatively. 'But of course, he lost that rather quickly. Cambridge knocked it out of him.'
'California?' That surprised me. 'What was he doing there?' 'Geoff's parents divorced, when he was eleven. His mother went off with someone else, and Geoff went to America with his father. Morland has a big office there, I gather, near San Francisco. Anyway, Geoff was sixteen when they finally came back. Bit of an adjustment for him, that was,' she said, with another smile. 'He still hasn't made peace with the class system here, and he was even worse back then—he'd mix with anyone. Even me,' she added, grinning. 'Mind you, we were living under the same roof at the time, so it was only good manners, but it did raise some eyebrows. Still does, on occasion.'
I frowned a little, trying to follow. 'You lived at Crofton Hall?' I checked. 'When you were younger?'
'Yes. Sorry, I forgot you wouldn't know.' She flashed a quick, self-conscious smile. 'I do rather have to keep reminding myself, you know, that we've only just met. It sometimes seems like we've been friends for years, do you feel that? Anyway, yes, I did live at the Hall, when I was a little girl. My aunt kept house for Geoff’s dad, you see, and I lived with her. My parents,' she explained, before I asked, 'died in a train crash, years ago. I barely remember them. Aunt Freda brought me up, and did a marvelous job, considering, though I'm sure I gave her every gray hair she has.' She smiled at the memories. 'One night she found out I'd been to the pictures with Geoff, and that was that. She marched me right across the road to my gran's house,
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