A Pocket Full of Rye Read Online Free PDF Page B

daughter, Elaine, were simply livid about it. They're as nasty as they can be to her, but very wisely she doesn't care or even notice. She knows she's got the old man where she wants him. Oh dear, the wrong tense again. I haven't really grasped yet that he's dead...”
    “Let's hear about the son.”
    “Dear Percival? Val as his wife calls him. Percival is a mealy-mouthed hypocrite. He's prim and sly and cunning. He's terrified of his father and has always let himself be bullied, but he's quite clever at getting his own way. Unlike his father he's mean about money. Economy is one of his passions. That's why he's been so long about finding a house of his own. Having a suite of rooms here saved his pocket.”
    “And his wife?”
    “Jennifer's meek and seems very stupid. But I'm not so sure. She was a hospital nurse before her marriage - nursed Percival through pneumonia to a romantic conclusion. The old man was disappointed by the marriage. He was a snob and wanted Percival to make what he called a 'good marriage.' He despised poor Mrs Val and snubbed her. She dislikes - disliked him a good deal, I think. Her principal interests are shopping and the cinema, her principal grievance is that her husband keeps her short of money.”
    “What about the daughter?”
    “Elaine? I'm rather sorry for Elaine. She's not a bad sort. One of those great schoolgirls who never grow up. She plays games quite well, and runs Guides and Brownies and all that sort of thing. There was some sort of affair not long ago with a disgruntled young schoolmaster, but Father discovered the young man had communistic ideas and came down on the romance like a ton of bricks.”
    “She hasn't got the spirit to stand up to him?”
    “She had. It was the young man who ratted. A question of money yet again, I fancy. Elaine is not particularly attractive, poor dear.”
    “And the other son?”
    “I've never seen him. He's attractive, by all accounts, and a thoroughly bad lot. Some little matter of a forged cheque in the past. He lives in East Africa.”
    “And was estranged from his father.”
    “Yes, Mr Fortescue couldn't cut him off with a shilling because he'd already made him a junior partner in the firm, but he held no communication with him for years, and in fact if Lance was ever mentioned, he used to say 'Don't talk to me of that rascal. He's no son of mine.' All the same -”
    “Yes, Miss Dove?”
    Mary said slowly: “All the same, I shouldn't be surprised if old Fortescue hadn't been planning to get him back here.”
    “What makes you think that?”
    “Because, about a month ago, old Fortescue had a terrific row with Percival - he found out something that Percival had been doing behind his back - I don't know what it was - and he was absolutely furious. Percival suddenly stopped being the white-headed boy. He's been quite different lately, too.”
    “Mr Fortescue was quite different?”
    “No. I mean Percival. He's gone about looking worried to death.”
    “Now what about servants? You've already described the Crumps. Who else is there?”
    “Gladys Martin is the parlourmaid or waitress, as they like to call themselves nowadays. She does the downstairs rooms, lays the table, clears away and helps Crump wait at table. Quite a decent sort of girl but very nearly half-witted. The adenoidal type.”
    Neele nodded.
    “The housemaid is Ellen Curtis. Elderly, very crabbed, and very cross, but has been in good service and is a first-class housemaid. The rest is outside help - odd women who come in.”
    “And those are the only people living here?”
    “There's old Miss Ramsbottom.”
    “Who is she?”
    “Mr Fortescue's sister-in-law - his first wife's sister. His wife was a good deal older than he was and her sister again was a good deal older than her - which makes her well over seventy. She has a room of her own on the second floor - does her own cooking and all that, with just a woman coming in to clean. She's rather eccentric and she