things would work out. After all, she could find a job and use Margot’s new home as a base: in this way she would be able to keep in touch with her cousin yet not get in their way too much. She emptied the tin of Bedsocks’s favourite brand of cat food into her special bowl and watched abstractedly as she ate, still maintaining a stentorian purr.
It was Kenneth’s crisp familiar knock that interrupted her thoughts : it was unmistakable and somehow typical of his precise methodical character. She could hear Margot unfasten the shop door and lead him into the living-room. And when at last Bedsocks had finished she took as long as possible to wash her bowl and return it to its place in the cupboard.
When she returned to the living-room it was to see that all was not well between Kenneth and her cousin: their sotto voce conversation had stopped abruptly at her entry and Margot was sitting bolt upright in the armchair, two pink spots of unaccustomed colour high on her cheekbones, while Kenneth’s smooth features were set in lines of disapproval.
For a moment she hesitated in embarrassment, aware that s he was the subject of their disagreement. ‘I’ve got sewing to do,’ she said awkwardly and, putting Bedsocks back on the rag rug, edged towards the door.
‘ No, don’t go,’ Margot said loudly. ‘There’s no reason why you shouldn’t hear what we have to say. I’ve told Kenneth that when we marry you’re to live with us and he has agreed, of course.’ The glance she directed at him was anything but conciliatory, and Kenneth, obviously anxious not to antagonise her now that he had gained her promise to marry him, said grudgingly, ‘Yes, of course, if Margot wants it that wa y I’m quite agreeable.’ Then feeling perhaps that this sounded ungracious he added, ‘Goodness knows, the house is big enough for us all.’
But the implication was obvious : big enough for her to keep out of their way, he meant!
‘Well, then it’s all settled,’ Margot said briskly. ‘Kate and I shall get to work on the house right away. I’ve wanted to get my hands on those gloomy old puce curtains for a long time.’
‘Naturally I’ll be quite agreeable to any ch anges you may make. After all, it will be your home now,’ Kenneth stated, with an air of painstaking veracity.
Kate knew, that in spite of his unattractively pompous manner, he had a deep and unswerving regard for her cousin, and felt Margot was right in believing they would probably make a happy and contented couple. As she left the sitting-room she could see that Margot felt that her future had been arranged perfectly satisfactorily: already she was discussing with Kenneth her wedding plans.
But Kate, as she climbed the narrow twisting stairs that led up to the two minute bedrooms under the eaves, was filled with desolation. Margot might be perfectly satisfied with her arrangements, but she herself knew that there could be no future for her in the red brick villa that was to be her cousin’s new home. It would not be long before Kenneth’s antagonism came fully into the open and made life completely unendurable. No, to become one of the Millbanke household was out of the question, yet where was she to go? What was she to do?
Later that night a storm sprang up, lashing the diamond-paned windows and making the old timbered rooms creak like a ship at sea Kate woke up with a start as the casement window in her room slashed open letting in a spray of rain. She got out of bed and crossing the floor gazed out for a moment before refastening the window. Below her the rainswept street was deserted. The sign of the Four-inHand groaned and squeaked as it swung on its ironwork stanchion. The narrow street and old coaching house must have looked very similar in days gone by when carriages rattled into its courtyard. It was a scene familiar to her since she had first come to stay with her cousin, and now it came home to her with devastating clarity that soon her days at
It was Kenneth’s crisp familiar knock that interrupted her thoughts : it was unmistakable and somehow typical of his precise methodical character. She could hear Margot unfasten the shop door and lead him into the living-room. And when at last Bedsocks had finished she took as long as possible to wash her bowl and return it to its place in the cupboard.
When she returned to the living-room it was to see that all was not well between Kenneth and her cousin: their sotto voce conversation had stopped abruptly at her entry and Margot was sitting bolt upright in the armchair, two pink spots of unaccustomed colour high on her cheekbones, while Kenneth’s smooth features were set in lines of disapproval.
For a moment she hesitated in embarrassment, aware that s he was the subject of their disagreement. ‘I’ve got sewing to do,’ she said awkwardly and, putting Bedsocks back on the rag rug, edged towards the door.
‘ No, don’t go,’ Margot said loudly. ‘There’s no reason why you shouldn’t hear what we have to say. I’ve told Kenneth that when we marry you’re to live with us and he has agreed, of course.’ The glance she directed at him was anything but conciliatory, and Kenneth, obviously anxious not to antagonise her now that he had gained her promise to marry him, said grudgingly, ‘Yes, of course, if Margot wants it that wa y I’m quite agreeable.’ Then feeling perhaps that this sounded ungracious he added, ‘Goodness knows, the house is big enough for us all.’
But the implication was obvious : big enough for her to keep out of their way, he meant!
‘Well, then it’s all settled,’ Margot said briskly. ‘Kate and I shall get to work on the house right away. I’ve wanted to get my hands on those gloomy old puce curtains for a long time.’
‘Naturally I’ll be quite agreeable to any ch anges you may make. After all, it will be your home now,’ Kenneth stated, with an air of painstaking veracity.
Kate knew, that in spite of his unattractively pompous manner, he had a deep and unswerving regard for her cousin, and felt Margot was right in believing they would probably make a happy and contented couple. As she left the sitting-room she could see that Margot felt that her future had been arranged perfectly satisfactorily: already she was discussing with Kenneth her wedding plans.
But Kate, as she climbed the narrow twisting stairs that led up to the two minute bedrooms under the eaves, was filled with desolation. Margot might be perfectly satisfied with her arrangements, but she herself knew that there could be no future for her in the red brick villa that was to be her cousin’s new home. It would not be long before Kenneth’s antagonism came fully into the open and made life completely unendurable. No, to become one of the Millbanke household was out of the question, yet where was she to go? What was she to do?
Later that night a storm sprang up, lashing the diamond-paned windows and making the old timbered rooms creak like a ship at sea Kate woke up with a start as the casement window in her room slashed open letting in a spray of rain. She got out of bed and crossing the floor gazed out for a moment before refastening the window. Below her the rainswept street was deserted. The sign of the Four-inHand groaned and squeaked as it swung on its ironwork stanchion. The narrow street and old coaching house must have looked very similar in days gone by when carriages rattled into its courtyard. It was a scene familiar to her since she had first come to stay with her cousin, and now it came home to her with devastating clarity that soon her days at
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