Be Careful What You Wish For: The Clifton Chronicles 4 Read Online Free PDF Page A

him.’
    ‘Funny you should mention that,’ said Emma, ‘because he’s recently begun to take a great deal of interest in the company’s fortunes, which comes as something of a
surprise. In fact, he reads the minutes of every board meeting from cover to cover. He’s even bought ten shares, which gives him the legal right to follow our every move, and I can tell you,
Ross, he’s not shy in expressing his views, not least on the proposed building of the
Buckingham
.’
    ‘No doubt influenced by his mother’s well-known opinion on the subject,’ said Buchanan, smiling.
    ‘No, that’s the strange thing,’ said Emma. ‘Someone else seems to be advising him on that particular subject.’

    Emma burst out laughing.
    Harry looked up from the other end of the breakfast table and put down his newspaper. ‘As I can’t find anything even remotely amusing in
The Times
this morning, do share the
joke with me.’
    Emma took a sip of coffee before returning to the
Daily Express.
    ‘It seems that Lady Virginia Fenwick, only daughter of the ninth Earl of Fenwick, has issued divorce proceedings against the Count of Milan. William Hickey is suggesting that Virginia will
receive a settlement of around £250,000, plus their flat in Lowndes Square, as well as the country estate in Berkshire.’
    ‘Not a bad return for two years’ work.’
    ‘And of course Giles gets a mention.’
    ‘That’s always going to be the case whenever Virginia makes the headlines.’
    ‘Yes, but it’s quite flattering for a change,’ she said, returning to the newspaper. ‘“Lady Virginia’s first husband, Sir Giles Barrington, Member of
Parliament for Bristol Docklands, is widely tipped to be a cabinet minister should Labour win the next election.”’
    ‘I think that’s unlikely.’
    ‘That Giles will be a cabinet minister?’
    ‘No, that Labour will win the next election.’
    ‘“He has proved to be a formidable front bench spokesman,”’ Emma continued, ‘“and has recently become engaged to Dr Gwyneth Hughes, a lecturer at King’s
College, London.” Great picture of Gwyneth, ghastly photo of Virginia.’
    ‘Virginia won’t like that,’ said Harry, returning to
The Times.
‘But there’s not a lot she can do about it now.’
    ‘Don’t be so sure of that,’ said Emma. ‘I have a feeling the sting has not yet been fully extracted from that particular scorpion.’

    Harry and Emma drove up from Gloucestershire to Harlow every Sunday to visit Sebastian, with Jessica always in tow, as she never missed an opportunity to see her big brother.
Every time Emma turned left out of the Manor House gates to begin the long drive to the Princess Alexandra Hospital, she could never shake off the memory of the first time she’d made that
journey, when she’d thought her son had been killed in a car crash. Emma was only thankful that she hadn’t phoned Grace or Giles to tell them the news, and that Jessica had been camping
in the Quantocks with the Girl Guides when the tutor rang. Only poor Harry had spent twenty-four hours believing he would never see his son again.
    Jessica considered the visits to Sebastian to be the highlight of her week. On arriving at the hospital, she would present him with her latest work of art, and after having covered every inch of
his plaster casts with images of the Manor House, family and friends, she moved on to the hospital walls. Matron hung every new picture in the corridor outside the ward, but admitted that it
wouldn’t be too long before they would have to migrate down the staircase to the floor below. Emma could only hope that Sebastian would be released before Jessica’s offerings reached
the reception area. She always felt a little embarrassed whenever her daughter presented Matron with her latest effort.
    ‘No need to feel embarrassed, Mrs Clifton,’ said Miss Puddicombe. ‘You should see some of the daubs I’m presented with by doting parents, who expect them to be hung in my