A High Price to Pay Read Online Free PDF Page A

'Mel, for God's sake!
    Don't let Mummy hear you.'
    'Don't worry, I won't.' Melanie put her head on one side. 'But don't
    you fancy him, Ally? If you're honest, in your heart of hearts, just a
    little? You can't really prefer boring old Simon.'
    'Simon is neither boring nor old,' Alison said calmly. 'And I wasn't
    aware that my sexual preferences—or Nick Bristow's for that
    matter— were on the "A" level curriculum. Stick to Eng. Lit.—it's
    safer.'

    'What's safe?' asked Melanie, getting restlessly to her feet. 'We're all
    going to be living dangerously from now on.'

    * * *
With her world visibly crumbling around her, it was a relief to Alison
    to find that the office hadn't changed. And nor had Simon, who
    seemed endearingly pleased to see her. The locality had been buzzing
    with gossip since the funeral, Alison knew, but Simon, with noble
    tact, refrained from asking any questions about the disposal of
    Ladymead.
    He simply said that a smaller, more convenient house was vital, and
    promised to keep his eyes and ears open for suitable properties
    coming on to the market.
    She was glad to be back at work. Melanie had returned to Mascombe
    Park, although for how much longer was anyone's guess. Alec Liddell
    had pursed his lips ruefully over the question of school fees, and
    when Alison had attempted to discuss the problem with her mother,
    Mrs Mortimer had dissolved into floods of tears.
    It was not an attitude which helped, Alison thought tiredly, as she
    looked through an assortment of bungalow details. But then her
    mother's behaviour generally was giving her deep cause for concern.
    She wasn't eating, and hardly ever left her room. Alison had tried to
    persuade her to take up the Bosworths' invitation, although she
    supposed, privately, it was a rotten trick to play on Aunt Beth, but
    Mrs Mortimer wouldn't hear of it. She seemed to have it fixed on her
    mind that if she ever left Ladymead, it would be for ever, and Alison
    knew that the doctor was as worried about her state of mind as she
    was herself. He had started talking in guarded tones about the
    possibility of treatment in a complete change of scene, and the sound
    of it made Alison's heart sink.

    'Are you saying my mother needs to see a psychiatrist?' she had
    asked.
    Dr Barnet had given her a straight look. 'She's clearly in a very
    disturbed state,' he had returned. 'Bereavement is usually enough of a
    trauma for anyone to cope with, but when you add the other losses
    your mother is suffering .. .' He shrugged. 'Frankly, it's enough to
    undermine the emotional constitution of someone with three times
    her strength. And, unfortunately, she's become fixated on this house
    as a symbol of her security rather than you or Melanie. It's not a
    healthy situation.'
    He could say that again, Alison thought, shoving the bungalow
    details back into their folders with scant respect. Nicholas Bristow
    had said he wouldn't evict them—but the way her mother was
    reacting, he might have to.
    'It's my home,' her mother kept reiterating. 'My only home. He can't
    take it away from me!'
    The fact that they could no longer afford to live there seemed to have
    escaped her completely, Alison thought wryly.
    She was thankful to have her work to immerse herself in once again,
    and she and Simon had already tentatively discussed the terms by
    which she would work for him full time.
    It was a relief to know she would have a wage she could live on, but it
    didn't solve Melanie's problem, as the letter she had received only that
    morning served to underline. Melanie had had a preliminary
    interview with Miss Lesley, her formidable headmistress. It had been
    relatively civilised, Mel wrote, but the question of where the next
    term's fees would be coming from had inevitably been raised.

    And that was the problem in the forefront of Alison's mind as she
    drove her elderly Mini back to Ladymead that evening.
    As she rounded the last bend in the drive, she was surprised to see
    another car