Belinda Read Online Free PDF Page A

approached.
    â€˜Good morning,’ said Belinda hesitantly, but all she got in return was an almost imperceptible nod as the landlord continued to stare sullenly at her.
    â€˜I’ve had rather a bad time and an awfully long walk. Is there any chance of a glass of water, please?’
    Belinda blushed with self-consciousness as the seated group fell silent on hearing her plea and her English accent.
    â€˜You want to buy a glass of water?’ replied the landlord in a gritty voice as he surveyed her pure white cleavage and wondered what it would be like to put his hands up her dress.
    â€˜I’m afraid I haven’t any money.’ Belinda said feebly. As regards his looking at her cleavage, she was simultaneously thinking that there was no way she would prostitute herself to that horrible man with his heavy unshaven jowls. She would find water somewhere else if necessary.
    â€˜This ain’t no fucking charity, you whore,’ snarled mein host, which made Belinda feel both suicidal and murderous all at the same time.
    â€˜Hey hey hey!’ called out the thinner of the two men at the table. ‘That’s quite enough of that you filthy little curmudgeon!’
    Belinda noticed his accent was American yet in a sort of English way, an observation that also applied to the group’s well-cut style of dress.
    â€˜If you were to address a lady – any lady – in that way in Boston,’ chipped in the darker of the two women in a plummy voice, ‘you’d be tied to a lamppost, stripped naked and horse whipped.’
    â€˜Yeah, well, this ain’t no Boston, thank God,’ snarled the innkeeper.
    â€˜Oh, you’re on speaking terms with God, are you?’ piped up the other man, somewhat on the tubby side but with a jolly if hard air about him. ‘Well, the old fellow’s certainly gone downhill since the last time I went to church.’
    This caused a lot of sniggering from his companions, and he too joined in the laughter. Belinda smiled as well. Then the thinner man spoke again.
    â€˜Give this poor girl a pint of your very best water and charge it to my bill as a pint of your filthy beer. And do it now.’
    Satisfied with this, the owner shuffled into the back with a pint pot and returned moments later with it full of clean clear water. Belinda took it and, before quaffing from it, turned to the table and thanked the group.
    â€˜Not at all, my dear,’ said the slim man in the most charming way.
    â€˜Perhaps she’s hungry as well,’ whispered the brunette loudly. So far her younger blonde friend had said nothing but sat smiling sweetly at everything that went on.
    â€˜Quite right, honey!’ cried the thin gentleman. A pair of tears stung Belinda’s eyes briefly. Bill, her dead husband-to-be, had called her ‘honey’, in the few words he’d had time to say to her. ‘Please, will you join us? It would be an honour to have you.’
    What delightful people these were, Belinda thought, as she sat beside the two women who had shuffled along the rough bench to make room for her. She sat down beside the young blonde, who did not seem to mind that their thighs were pressed together due to the limited space.
    â€˜Come along, you oaf!’ shouted the tubby man to the owner. ‘Bad news for your pigs, you’re going to have to sell some more of their swill to a human being!’
    The miserable landlord did not mind abuse as long as it was sales related, and he hurried out to the back again, returning in half a minute with a plateful of stew, which actually looked and smelt very appetising. He banged it down in front of Belinda along with a dirty spoon and went back to the bar, having taken an order for a fresh round of drinks for the group. The ladies both drank gin and water whilst the men preferred whisky and beer together. They also insisted on ordering a gin for Belinda, even though she was happy with the fresh well