Cast the First Stone Read Free

slim enough to get away with anything. I must say I envy you your trim figure. How on earth do you manage to keep so slim?’
    â€˜I don’t know really.’ Ruth gave a slight shrug. ‘I don’t watch what I eat, not particularly. I suppose I take after my mother; she’s seventy now and still as slim as ever.’
    â€˜I started putting weight on after I had the children,’ said Heather, ‘and I’ve never been able to lose it. And of course this lot won’t help today, will it?’ She waved her hand towards the array of food that surrounded them. ‘Gosh! What a spread! I can’t wait to sample some of those cakes. That is if there are any left after we’ve served the VIPs.’
    â€˜Don’t worry; there’s enough to feed a regiment,’ smiled Ruth. As she looked at her friend she couldn’t help thinking that Heather maybe should lose a little weight. She, too, was wearing a dress with a short skirt, revealing plump thighs. The pale-blue colour suited her fair prettiness and her blue eyes. Her cheerful rounded face and her curvaceous figure were part of Heather’s charm, though, and Ruth couldn’t imagine her any other way.
    â€˜Ladies, will you listen, please?’ Mrs Ethel Bayliss now called them all to order. ‘It’s time to carry the sandwiches and savouries through to the hall. A nice selection on each table, and make sure the top table is well served. Blanche and Joan – would you put the kettles on now, please? Our guests should be here in just a few moments.’

Two
    Fiona, the new Mrs Norwood, looked round the room a little apprehensively. She didn’t like being the centre of attention, although she supposed, as the rector’s new wife, she would have to get used to the position. Simon had assured her that there was nothing to be anxious about. He had also assured her that she looked lovely – as she always did, he added – and she was quite pleased with her appearance as well. Simon had persuaded her to wear her ‘going away’ suit – a short-sleeved jacket with a peplum at the waist in a shade of buttercup yellow, over a slightly above the knee length skirt with a scalloped hemline. He said she looked like a ray of sunshine. The suit had been a minor extravagance, purchased from Schofield’s in Leeds rather than the M and S, or C and A stores where she usually shopped. She had decided, however, not to wear the small cap of artificial petals in a matching shade that she had worn on her wedding day, feeling that it might look a little too fancy for the occasion. Looking around she saw that it was mostly the older ladies who were wearing hats.
    Fiona knew that some of those elderly ladies were inclined to look critically at her make-up and her painted nails, also at her blonde hair – which, contrary to what people might think, was her natural colour. She had always been conscious of her appearance and tried to look her best at all times. Her lips and her nails today were a coral colour, rather than a vivid red, which she felt was more in keeping with ‘the rector’s wife’ image. Not that Simon cared two hoots, he said, about what the members of the congregation might think. He loved her just as she was and didn’t want her to change at all.
    She knew, though, that the position of rector’s wife was regarded as one of importance in the parish and she couldn’t help wondering how she would adapt to it. Simon had agreed that she should keep on with her job at the library for the time being. Fiona also knew it was Simon’s hope that they would be blessed with a child in the not too distant future. ‘Be blessed with . . .’ That was Simon’s way of looking at things. He regarded the good things that happened in life as God’s blessings. Until she had met Simon, Fiona had attended church only spasmodically of late. She had not given much thought to