Free The Lorimer Line by Anne Melville

come when he was ready for school but Ralph was still too young for serious study. John Junius, recognizing a good tutor when he had one, had retained Mr Pennydale’s services until Ralph should be ready for him.
    But in the Lorimer household value was always expected for money. With Mr Pennydale on the premises and a daughter whose time must somehow be occupied, it had seemed the most natural thing in the world that Margaret should be given almost the same education as her brothers. Some of the effects were unusual. Most girls were taught to paint delicate water colours. Mr Pennydale, finding himself expected to demonstrate an art for which he had no talent, had chosen instead to equip Margaret with a knowledge of anatomy so that she could attempt figure drawing in a scientific manner. She had rebelled against Greek, but worked hard at Latin - and enjoyed her lessons.
    By the time she was sixteen, Ralph was ready to begin his career at Clifton College and Mr Pennydale’s services were no longer required. She had pleaded with her father to allow her to join her closest friend, Lydia, as a boarder at the Ladies’ College in Cheltenham. This request was refused, and from that time onwards Margaret’s life had been the conventional one of the daughter of a wealthy family. It was not surprising that she sometimes felt jealous of her brother’s greater opportunities, realizing that she would have made better use of them if she had been in Ralph’s position.
    The unfairness of the situation was often on her mind. Just because she was a girl, so many doors were closed to her. The conventions of her society allowed her only a single choice. She could marry, or she could remain single, living in her parents’ home. There was no other decision tobe made, and she was not free to make even that one herself.
    Sometimes, when her wish to be a doctor overwhelmed her, she raged silently against the restrictions of her life. But there were more frequent periods when she was able to accept her situation with contentment. There was just one door which would open to her and never to her brothers. She could give birth to a baby, as they could not. One day, she promised herself, she would have children of her own.

4
    Before any bowl of soup can reach the lips of the poor, a good deal of champagne necessarily makes its way down the throats of the rich. When the need is for something as substantial as a building, the fertile soil of a wealthy community must be cultivated with both energy and style. Margaret gave a good deal of attention to the details of her mother’s evening reception, but naturally her own direct contribution to it exercised her most. Almost every day she sent the carriage for Luisa, using the need to practise together as an excuse to provide her friend with a good meal.
    On these occasions the baby, Alexa, remained behind. Luisa’s relations with her landlady had been strained for a time because she had difficulty in paying the rent promptly every week. But recently there had been no mention of the arrears, and Mrs Lambert had even volunteered to look after the baby occasionally. Luisa considered that this new reasonableness was caused by the regular appearance of the grandest carriage in the city outside Mrs Lambert’s front door, but it was Margaret’s opinion that Alexa herself was irresistible to any woman.
    After their practice the two young women walkedtogether on the Downs. Good food and fresh air had already worked a small miracle on Luisa’s appearance. Her long black hair had regained its glossiness and her skin, although still pale, had lost its strained appearance. She had somehow managed to acquire a new gown which, although plain, showed off her slender figure to advantage.
    A little to Margaret’s surprise, Luisa’s wardrobe had also been the object of John Junius’s interest. When he heard from his daughter of the occasion on which she proposed to sing