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Aunt Dolly and Uncle Teddy got back late on Sunday afternoon.
They walked into a spotless house. Melanie had spent most of the
morning in an orgy of spring-cleaning which made sure that there was
no trace of the party left. She waited until her aunt and uncle had had
a cup of tea before she broke the news about the gratecrashers and the
broken window.
Aunt Dolly made choking noises, putting down her cup.
Uncle Teddy said: 'They did what?' but didn't wait for an answer. 'Did
you call the police? Vandals, that's what they are, vandals. Did the
police catch any of them?'
'We've had the window replaced,' Melanie said placatingly. 'But the
police didn't catch anybody, I'm afraid.'
Her uncle stamped off to view the scene of the crime for himself,
muttering ferociously. Aunt Dolly half rose to go too, but sank back.
'Never again. No more parties. I knew something would go wrong, it
always does. Where's Will? Take* himself out of the way, I suppose?
Afraid to face us?'
Melanie gave her a weak smile; Aunt Dolly knew her son. Will had
gone off on his motor-bike early that morning.
'Where's Liz?' Aunt Dolly asked and Melanie looked away, afraid for
some reason of what her eyes might betray.
'She's out, too.' Liz had gone before Melanie came down Will said
Jamie Knox had come for her in his fast red sports-car.
Uncle Teddy came down, grim-faced. 'It was a mistake to go away
and leave them to it,' he said. 'Never again.' His wife nodded, her lips
tight, in total agreement with him.
Melanie saw that in their over-excited state it would be a serious error
of judgment to tell them her other startling news. Aunt Dolly had had
enough shocks for one day. The revelation that Melanie's engagement
was over would have to wait until tomorrow night when they would
have had a chance to get over the story of Will's party.
'Where's Liz?' asked Aunt Dolly again later, and Melanie said that she
didn't know. She decided not to mention Jamie Knox; she wasn't sure
she could talk about him without sounding bitter.
'Is she playing chicken, too?' Uncle Teddy asked wryly. 'Did they
leave you to break the news, Melanie? Isn't that just like them?'
Melanie didn't tell them that Liz had other things on her mind and had
probably forgotten all about her brother's party. They would soon find
out. It looked as if Jamie Knox was going to become a
semi-permanent landmark in their lives.
She went to bed early that evening. Liz and Will hadn't come home.
When Melanie came down to breakfast next day she found her aunt
and uncle giving Will a bad time. He was sulkily eating cornflakes
and trying not to listen, a difficult feat when Aunt Dolly was in such
operatic voice. She had a lot to say on the subject of parties, drinking,
window-breaking, lighting and anything else that occurred to her and
was on her banned list.
Will was glad to get to work, and bolted as soon as he had finished
eating, leaving his mother triumphantly in possession of the field.
Melanie had a tiring and difficult day in the office. She had a pile of
typing to get through and the phone kept ringing; clients came in a
steady stream, wanting details of houses up for sale or asking her to
send someone out to give them an estimate for their own home, and
she seemed to be running from the moment she arrived at work until
the stroke of five-thirty when she could at last shut the front office.
George Ramsden and his son were back from a lengthy inspection of
an estate possibly coming up for auction by the time she was putting
on her jacket to go home.
'I've left some notes on your desk, Mr Ramsden. I think Mrs Silvester
has definitely decided to buy the Market Square property. I said you'd
ring her. There were quite a few calls and several new clients with
houses to sell, but I've left a list.'
Mr Ramsden patted her shoulder. 'Thanks, Melanie. Off you go and
you can take the morning off tomorrow. Andrew and I will be here all
day, and I owe you some time off.' He preferred to give her the
occasional morning off rather than pay her overtime. Melanie smiled
wryly, nodding.
'Thank you.' Ever since she had locked the outer door she had been [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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