Free Free to Trade by Michael Ridpath Page A

'Let's go for a walk.'
    We left the cottage and struck up the hillside. My mother was a regular walker and we soon made it to the saddle between our valley and the next. We looked down on to Helmby Hall, an austere mansion built at the beginning of the twentieth century by an earlier Lord Mablethorpe with the profits from his textile milling interests.
    My mother paused for breath. 'Oh, I didn't tell you, did I? Lord Mablethorpe died last month. A stroke. Your father will be sad when he finds out.'
    'Oh, I'm sorry to hear that,' I said.
    'So am I,' she said. 'He was always very good to me. And to lots of people in the village.'
    'Does that mean his moronic son has taken over Helmby Hall?'
    'Paul, really. He's not daft. He's a charming young gentleman. He's clever too. He works in a merchant bank in London, I believe. I hear he is still going to spend most of his time down there. He'll just come up here at weekends, like.'
    'Well, the less he has to do with Barthwaite, the better,' I said. 'Has Mrs Kirby met him yet? I wonder what she thinks of him,' I asked my mother innocently.
    My mother laughed. 'I wouldn't put even that past her,' she said.
    We got back to the cottage at about seven, tired but contented with each other's company.
    Then, just as I was getting in the car for the drive home, she said, 'Now then, make sure you study hard, dear. Your father told me before he left that he was sure you would make a good farmer, and I am sure you can prove him right.'
    I drove home as I often drove home after visits to my mother, sad and angry at the unfairness of life and death.
    I was sitting at my desk early on Monday morning when Rob arrived, a huge grin on his face. I knew that grin of old. He was in love again, and things were going well.
    'OK, what happened?'
    He was bursting to tell me. 'Well, I rang Cathy yesterday and persuaded her to come out with me. She made all sorts of excuses, but I wasn't going to let her get away with any of them. She finally gave in and we went to a film she said she had wanted to see for years. It was some French rubbish by Truffaut. I thought it was extremely boring and lost all track of what was going on, but she was glued to the screen. Afterwards we had dinner. We talked for hours. She really seems to understand me in a way no other girl ever has.'
    Or at least not since Claire last month and Sophie three months ago, I thought a little cruelly. Rob could get quite carried away when he poured his heart out to girls. The funny thing was, often they would get carried away too. But I wouldn't have put Cathy down as a push-over for Rob's technique.
    'So what happened?' I asked.
    'Nothing,' Rob smiled. 'She's a nice girl. She doesn't go in for that sort of thing on a first date. But I'm seeing her on Saturday. I'm going to take her sailing.'
    'Good luck,' I said. This was shaping up to be like Rob's other affairs. He was at the pedestal-building stage, I thought. You had to hand it to him, though. He seemed capable of cracking even the toughest nut.
    The light flashed on my phone board. It was Cash.
    'I got a couple of things,' he began. 'First, are you coming to our conference?'
    'Yes, I'd love to come. Thank you very much,' I said.
    'Good,' Cash said. 'And I promise I will set up a meeting with Irwin Piper when he is over. Now, I have another suggestion. Would you like to come to Henley as a guest of Bloomfield Weiss? The firm has a tent every year, and I hear it's a blast. Cathy and I will be there. Bring someone from the office if you like.'
    My heart sank. I had no interest in rowing. And I had no interest in this kind of corporate entertainment. It would involve lots of drinking with a crowd of people I didn't know, and didn't want to know. The only good thing was no one would be paying any attention to the rowing. I wanted to say no, but it was always difficult to say no to Cash.
    'Thank you very much, I'll have to check whether I am doing anything that weekend. I'll let you know.'
    'OK.