Dubious Legacy Read Online Free PDF Page B

the party; she had brought two dresses. The choice was further complicated by the possibility of borrowing one from Barbara.
    Matthew said, ‘A nightdress, of course,’ and was irritated when Antonia laughed.
    Regretting his irritation, Antonia said, ‘I really am looking forward to this party. I have never been to an outdoor dinner; if this weather lasts, it should be fun.’
    Mollified by Antonia’s enthusiasm, Matthew said, ‘The forecast is propitious,’ and, sensing that she smiled, asked, ‘Do you find me a touch pompous?’
    He was pleased when, laughingly, she answered, ‘I do, but I love it.’
    Just before they reached Cotteshaw they caught up with James and Barbara, who had left their car and stood leaning over a gate into a hayfield. When they saw Antonia and Matthew they turned to greet them.
    ‘What are you two up to?’ called Antonia.
    ‘Stopped for a pee,’ said James sedately.
    ‘Good idea,’ said Matthew, getting out of his car.
    ‘Liar,’ said Barbara. ‘He stopped the car to ask me to marry him.’
    ‘And shall you?’ asked Matthew, vaulting the gate into the field.
    ‘Don’t piss on the hay,’ said James, ‘it’s Henry’s. No! She refused me.’
    ‘But it was a sweet hay-scented proposal,’ volunteered Barbara, smiling.
    ‘And I am not altogether discouraged,’ said James cheerfully.
    ‘Antonia?’ Matthew, returning from the field, caught her eye.
    ‘Hay makes me sneeze,’ said Antonia.
    ‘Then I shall wait to pick a more esoterically-scented location,’ said Matthew, ‘and one where we are not crowded by eavesdropping friends. Come on, my dears, let us arrive chez Henry en masse. ’
    James followed Matthew’s car. ‘What a nice house,’ said Barbara as they crunched up the drive. ‘Pity it’s so shabby.’
    ‘We seem to be expected, the front door is open.’ James braked to a halt behind Matthew.
    While Matthew and James unloaded the luggage Antonia and Barbara wandered up to the front door and stood, hesitating, on the threshold. After the dazzling sunshine the interior of the house was dark; they sniffed the cool air of a flagstoned hall.
    Barbara murmured, ‘Something smells delicious. Lilies?’
    Antonia said, ‘Lilac, I think,’ in a low voice and groped childishly for her friend’s hand. ‘There doesn’t seem to be anybody here.’ She dropped her voice to a whisper. ‘Should we ring?’
    ‘No need,’ said a man’s voice. ‘Bell’s out of order. Do come in. I am Henry; you must be Antonia and Barbara. So glad you could come. These are my dogs,’ he said as two shaggy animals, appearing from nowhere, began sniffing and nudging round the girls’ legs. ‘Don’t let them bother you,’ he said, but made no attempt to dissuade the creatures from their intrusive attentions.
    ‘It’s all right, we both like dogs,’ said Antonia, letting go of Barbara’s hand. ‘How do you do? I am Antonia.’
    She held out her hand, hoping that Barbara’s grasp had not made it sticky, but instead of shaking Henry’s hand she had to push away one of the dogs who, venturing more boldly than the other, was thrusting his nose up her skirt. She stood beside Barbara, looking up at Henry.
    Henry Tillotson was taller than either James or Matthew, both tall men; he towered above the girls, smiling down at their upturned faces.
    Eager faces, he thought, unmarked but not innocent, two determined little beauties. The one dark, the other fair, hungry but not avaricious, neither would be likely to commit an uncalculated folly. They were probably aware that, posed against the light in the doorway, their summer dresses transparently revealed their legs (excellent legs, both).
    ‘Ah,’ he said, looking past them, ‘James and Matthew. Good to see you.’ He went down the steps at a trot to relieve them of their loads. ‘Come along in,’ he said, ‘you must see your rooms. Then Pilar ordains that we should have tea on the terrace; she recently read that tea on the