Death in Leamington Read Online Free PDF Page A

older and wiser we never officially went out together, although we did enjoy a ‘moment’ or two.
    I’ve never actually told Eddie this, but the only time I’ve ever seen Hugh really drunk was at his twenty-first party, and it was there that we had the nicest last dance snog in the basement of No. 10. I often smile at the thought when I walk past the house. I still fancy him a bit; he is always incredibly kind and considerate, although physically he has turned into a bit of a greying rugger bugger. He recently divorced after a difficult marriage but in my view he is the one that disproves the theory that all the best men are taken. I am now working on that too – and am determined to get him paired off soon.
    Basil, or Bas, on the other hand, is quite another matter. More Eddie’s age, dentist, not much hair left and what he has is closely cropped. Nice eyebrows and well-built but in his case I’d definitely recommend leaving first ‘base’ to his guitar. I hear that he parties hard.
    Of course, after my puppy-love crush on Hugh, there were other more serious boyfriends. The most significant of which was my relationship with Seb, also long before Eddie’s time. That was a bit more than a teenage crush; in fact it had gotten close to an engagement, before he died of a fractured skull in a motorbike accident in Germany whilst touring with friends. The true story of that accident is still drowned in the alcoholic haze of his comrades. I was devastated of course but am still friends with his mother, Lady Mary, and with Julia and Cordelia, his sisters, who semi-adopted me after the accident and whose basement flat Eddie and I now occupy. It was through them that I met Penny, who has since become their stepsister when her father recently married Lady Mary.
    As for Hugh, we lost touch for a while when he went off to join the army. Years later when he returned to Leamington, we met again at a party held by Julia and Delia’s father, who had now moved into No. 6. I still remember Julia’s sweet excitement when she saw Hugh in the mirror in her father’s hallway. We had been playing a silly game where the first person you saw in the mirror was the man you’d have to try to seduce that evening. He was wearing full dress uniform for the soirée and he looked magnificent. Julia was unable to keep her eyes off him for the rest of the evening, but as far as I know nothing really happened. Since then he has been through a difficult marriage and a messy divorce. I have wondered recently if I can get Julia and Hugh together again, but I also have a couple of other potential ladies lined up for him. It is all getting very complicated. Sometimes I feel I need to write it all out on a bit of paper to avoid getting into a muddle with the Jane Austen-like complexities of these interrelationships and my own amateur match-making.
    Will you embrace the time we share brave soul,
    And seek release, forgive my foolishness?
    Will you now slay the doubt that clouds your goal?
    Allow my truth to break your deep darkness.
    No roar of war or traitorous caress,
    Will douse this flame of pure fidelity.
    Afresh I bring to you such holiness,
    In hope lie down again and sing to thee
    As I worship in faith, without contingency.

Chapter Two
    The Newly Polychromatic Hugh – (Allegro) ‘H.D.S.-P.’
    It’s in every man’s destiny to rise up against the tight binding chains of female tyranny at least once in his life. This isn’t a call to arms, but rather a call to party. A single man doesn’t have to think about the consequences, unless it involves where he’s going to sleep that night. On the other hand, a good father always thinks about his kids first and foremost. But should you decide to go the untamed way, be wary of long-lasting proof. Don’t be reckless; evaluate your chances first and be careful eyeballing the all-night buffet.
    Curt Smith,
Getting Away With a Boys’ Night Out

    Bas, Eddie and I escaped the wrath of Alice and decided to