Free A Fall from Grace by Robert Barnard Page B

Chris.
    â€œOh, I think I got the message across. And one thing Buckworth and the kids care about is if the drama stream is threatened. All those child-star jobs onstage and on TV gone for a burton. He cares, they care. I think they’ll all be a bit more careful from now on.”
    * * *
    â€œSo what happened next?” asked Felicity, after a pause to let the sinking feeling in her stomach disappear.
    â€œWhat you’d expect in a little place like this. Dora Catchpole was very upset: she’d been screwing herself up to say what she did say, but the last thing she thought could happen was violence. She’d thought there might be a fit of self-righteousness, or a huff, something like that. When she ran from the house she was crying, and very embarrassed, so on the way home—more as a sort of refuge, a way of hiding herself for a bit so she could pull herself together—she dropped in on one of her friends.”
    â€œAnd she happened to be the biggest gossip in Coombe Barton,” hazarded Felicity.
    â€œWell, something like that. There’s competition for the title. But Dora poured out her heart, felt much better for it, vowed she’d never go back to the cottage—”
    â€œI should have thought that went without saying.”
    â€œYes, it should. But some people are very silly about things like that, and everyone was very pleased she wasn’t being. Anyway, the upshot was she went home feeling much better, and within the hour the story started to spread through the village.”
    â€œI can imagine. How did Dad react?”
    Mrs. Easton gave a bitter little laugh.
    â€œHow could he? He had to start doing his shopping, and all he got was the cold shoulder. Even shopkeepers were pretty tight-lipped. In the pub no one would talk to him—to tell you the truth, that was no great hardship, because most people thought he was a tremendousbore. So he had to face the fact that his cleaning, cooking, gardening and the rest were only going to get done if he did them himself.”
    â€œSo they all took Mrs. Catchpole’s side?”
    â€œWhat other side was there to take?”
    â€œOf course—I wasn’t meaning to imply sympathy for my dad. I don’t think I’ve ever had that in my life. All I was thinking of was that when he decided to move up north, in with or close to us, he was running away from being the Coombe Barton pariah. And he told us he’d made a quick sale and had to get out of the cottage at once.”
    â€œThat wasn’t true. Oh, you had a lucky escape he didn’t decide to move in with you.”
    â€œHe didn’t decide that. We did. Charlie and I knew that would be the ultimate disaster. Even as it is Charlie was just saying I’m reverting to the pathetic and mixed-up kid I was when he and I first met. Not in those words, but that’s what he meant.”
    â€œOh dear. I hope his moving there hasn’t caused trouble in your marriage.”
    â€œNot yet it hasn’t, but who knows what may happen later? I was quite pleased when he started getting a little circle of ladies around him, but now the thought terrifies me.”
    â€œNot the same thing over again? Doing everything for him?”
    â€œNot quite the same. There wasn’t the same spur of having known Mum, and realizing how hopeless he would be without her to look after him. And Yorkshire women are very independent. But if they have a sparehour or two they sometimes go up and see if he’s got anything that needs doing. And they give him their company, go to the tearooms or the pub with him, hear him pretend to be the world’s greatest writer, the world’s greatest grandfather, the world’s greatest expert on the nature and needs of women.”
    â€œYou don’t like him much, do you, Felicity?”
    â€œI don’t like him at all. Why didn’t we say when he first wrote that we wanted nothing to do with him,