(9/20) Tyler's Row Read Free

century, in common with many others, on the hill south of Caxley. Mostly they had been taken by professional and business people in the town, who wanted to move away from their working premises, yet did not want to be too far off.
    They were well-built, with ample gardens whose trees were now mature and formed a screen against the increased traffic in the road. Diana had worked hard in the garden, scrapping the enormous herbaceous border which had been the pride of a full-time gardener in earlier and more affluent times, and the dozen or so geometrically-shaped garden beds which had been so beautifully set out with wall-flowers, and then geraniums, in days gone by.
    The two long rose-beds were her own creation, and a new shrubbery, well planted with bulbs, gave her much satisfaction and less backbreaking work. She would hate to leave her handiwork to others.
    The house too, though originally built with accommodation for at least one resident maid, was easily managed. Here she and Peter had brought up their two sons, both now in the Navy, and the place was full of memories.
    And Caxley itself was dear to her. She enjoyed shopping in the town, meeting her friends for coffee, hearing the news of their sons and daughters, taking part in such innocent and agreeable activities as the Operatic Society and the Floral Club. Her nature made her averse to committee work. She lacked the drive and concentration needed, and had never been able to whip up the moral indignation she witnessed in some of her friends who were engaged in public works. She admired their zeal sincerely, but she knew she was incapable of emulating them.
    She knew so many people in the town. After all, Peter was now teaching the sons of his former pupils, and every family, it seemed, had some tie with the Grammar School. The young men in the banks, the shops and the offices of Caxley were almost all Old Boys, and knew her well. Wouldn't she feel lost at Fair acre?
    She told herself reasonably that she would still run into Caxley to shop and meet friends, but it would mean a second car. She knew that any buses from Fairacre would be few and far between. Had Peter considered this, she wondered, in his desire to get into the country?
    He had wanted to do this for years now. Circumstances had kept them in the town, the boys' schooling, the convenience of being within walking distance of his work, and Diana's obvious contentment with her way of life. But the boys were now out in the world. The house was really too large for them, and the garden, with no help available, was soon going to prove too much for them.
    'Now's the time to pull up our roots,' Peter had said, at least a year earlier. 'We're still young and active enough to settle into another place and to make friends. I'd like to get well dug in before I retire.'
    He looked at his wife's doubtful face.
    'If we don't go soon, we never will,' he said flatly. 'It's time we had a change of scene. Let's go and look at a few places anyway.'
    During the past few months they had visited a dozen or so properties, and each time they had returned thankfully to their own home.
    At this time, estate agents could laud their wares to the skies and many a 'desirable residence in charming surroundings' could have been more truthfully described as 'Four walls and a roof in a wilderness'. Sometimes, it was enough to read the agent's description, and the Hales did not bother to visit the establisment. Other factors weeded out the possibles from the impossibles. For instance, Peter Hale refused to have anything to do with a property advertised ''twixt' this and that, or as 'prestige'.
    'Listen to this,' he would snap crossly. '"'Twixt downs and salubrious golf course". And here's another, even worse. "A gem set 'twixt wood and weir." Well, they're out for a start! I'm not living 'twixt anything.'
    There would be further snorts of disgust.
    'It says here that "Four prestige houses are planned in Elderberry Lane". Such idiotic phrases!