Free Dubious Legacy by Mary Wesley Page A

sudden?” and “Have you really thought it through?”’
    ‘And have you?’ Henry caressed the cockatoo, which now clung to his upper arm and peered up at his face with its basilisk eye.
    ‘We have. Long ago,’ said Antonia, ‘haven’t we, Barbara?’
    Barbara said, ‘Definitely.’
    ‘We only have to get parental consent,’ said Antonia cheerfully. ‘My father is known as “Stuffy Lowther”, but I know how to work on him.’
    ‘They do not want us to rush into marriage and regret it afterwards,’ Barbara explained. ‘They think “rushing into marriage” is a bad thing.’
    Henry said, ‘What sensible people.’ He transferred the cockatoo from his arm to the wisteria. ‘Are you coming or not? If you don’t want to swim until the day has warmed up or wait for your future husbands to wake, I could take you for a spin in my Bentley.’
    ‘A Bentley!’ Barbara was impressed. ‘Oh!’
    ‘1926. It was my father’s.’
    ‘Thirty years old!’ Antonia gasped. ‘Wow! Love to.’
    Henry said, ‘Buck up, then, I haven’t got all day.’
    Spinning along in the Bentley Henry, raising his voice, asked, ‘And what else will your parents say? What will their reaction be? Will they be pleased?’
    ‘Oh, they will be pleased once they are used to the idea. They have been so afraid we might want to marry some penniless person for love and then fall out of it, they will be greatly relieved,’ said Antonia.
    Henry said, ‘I see.’
    Barbara said, ‘They don’t really know us. They don’t know that long ago, at least two years, we decided about marriage.’
    Henry said, ‘And?’
    ‘We decided to be detached,’ explained Antonia. ‘You might not understand, but we made up our minds not to go overboard, not to go for perfection, to settle for—’
    ‘Security.’
    ‘Well, that too, but what we decided was to choose the kind of husband who would be picked by our parents if they went in for arranged marriages; presentable, right sort of background, enough money, that sort of thing. Do you think that hard-headed and calculating?’
    Henry asked ‘Do James and Matthew know about this, your detached attitude?’
    ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if James’s and Matthew’s attitude were not the same as ours, with a few minor differences,’ said Barbara, ‘except that they would never admit it.’
    Henry said, ‘I dare say you are right there,’ rather grimly. Can all the old battleaxes one meets have started out like this? he wondered. ‘Over there,’ he said, ‘is the lake I swim in. I ride out, have a swim and hack home.’
    ‘Does, I mean, did your wife ride and swim with you?’ asked Barbara.
    ‘My wife does not care for horses,’ Henry answered evenly. Presently he said, ‘Would you two do something for me?’
    The girls said, ‘Of course, what?’
    ‘If you could pick a few flowers, make an arrangement for the dinner table—’
    ‘That was not what you were going to ask us,’ said Antonia astutely.
    Henry said, ‘No, well, it’s this. I bought a dress for my wife. I wondered whether you could pretend it’s one of yours, offer to lend it to her for the party.’
    ‘But she never gets out of bed,’ said Barbara.
    ‘There are occasions—I rather hoped’
    Antonia said, ‘Of course we’ll try. We can take one of ours with it, it would look more natural. She is sure to choose yours.’
    ‘If you are prepared to risk a snub, it would be a kindness,’ said Henry.
    ‘We’ll do the flowers too, of course,’ said Barbara. ‘It will be wonderful if she comes to the party,’ she added encouragingly.
    Henry said, ‘Yes,’ and, ‘Thanks. Nearly home.’ Turning the car into the drive, he said, ‘There are your intendeds wondering where I carried you off to. Shall you delay telephoning your respectable parents until after breakfast?’
    Antonia said, ‘Before breakfast would be fatal. My father is not human until his digestion has worked and he’s been to the