The Children's Hour Read Free Page A

they could afford to raise a mortgage which, once it was in place, would give Lyddie the sum of one hundred and fifty thousand pounds.
    Running the wine bar meant that she and Liam rarely managed to visit Oxford but Roger and Teresa had been to Truro for a brief holiday and, for the rest of the time, the four of them maintained a reasonable level of communication. Nevertheless, Lyddie felt faintly guilty that she and Liam had more fun with Joe and his girlfriend, Rosie – who worked at The Place – than they did with her brother and his wife.
    â€˜It’s all that brain,’ Liam had said cheerfully. ‘Far too serious, poor loves. Difficult to have a really good laugh with a couple who take size nine in headgear. Roger’s not too bad but dear old Teresa isn’t exactly overburdened with a sense of humour, is she?’
    Lyddie had been obliged to agree that she wasn’t but felt the need to defend her brother.
    â€˜Roger can be a bit insensitive,’ she’d said. ‘He’s generally a serious person but there’s nothing prissy about him. At least he’s not patronizing about other people having a good time.’ She’d added quickly, ‘Not that I’m implying that Teresa . . .’ and then paused, frowning, trying to be truthful without criticizing her sister-in-law.
    Liam had watched her appreciatively. ‘Careful, love,’ he’d warned. ‘You might just have to say something really unkind if you’re not careful.’
    She’d been embarrassed by his implication but Joe had intervened. They’d been sitting together in the snug and Joe, seeing her confusion, had aimed a cuff at Liam’s head.
    â€˜Leave her alone,’ he’d said, ‘and get the girl a drink. Just because you can’t understand true nobility of spirit when you see it . . .’ and Liam, still grinning, had stood up and gone off to the bar, leaving Lyddie and Joe alone together.
    As she paused to lean on a five-bar gate, watching the lights of the city pricking into the deepening twilight, Lyddie attempted to analyse her feelings for Joe. He was always very chivalrous towards her, unlike Liam’s rough-and-tumble way of carrying on, and his evident admiration boosted her confidence which, because of Liam’s popularity, could be slightly fragile. She’d been taken aback by the hostility she’d encountered from some of Liam’s ex-girlfriends and it was clear that a few of them did not consider his marriage to be particularly significant. Two or three women continued to behave as if he were still their property: they obviously had no intention of changing their proprietorial habits and treated Lyddie as an intruder. Liam tended to shrug it off and she quickly learned not to expect any particular public support from him: they were marriedand, having made this statement, he expected her to be able to deal with these women sensibly. This was not quite as easy as it sounded. Apart from the fact that her confidence had been seriously damaged by James’s departure, her husband was extraordinarily attractive – hair nearly as black as her own silky mop, knowing brown eyes, lean and tough – and he knew it. Without his presence The Place was a little less exciting, the atmosphere less intimate. He had an indefinable magic that embraced both sexes, so that men called him a ‘great guy’ whilst their women flirted with him. There was a sense of triumph at a table if he spent longer than usual talking and joking: the male would have a faintly self-congratulatory air – Liam didn’t waste too much time on dullards – and the woman would preen a little, a small, secret smile on her lips, conscious of the other females’ envious stares.
    Joe’s quiet, appreciative glance, his protectiveness, helped Lyddie to deal with the competition and she rather liked to hear Liam protesting against Joe’s