This Honourable House Read Online Free PDF

‘You’ve done it again.’
    ‘Well, why not? What else is there for a man and a woman to do? But, Mark, sweetheart, don’t remind me about the age gap. I thought it didn’t matter to you. It certainly didn’t last year.’ Diane returned to examining herself frankly in the mirror. What she saw appeared to give her satisfaction, for she flopped down beside the young man, wrapped a leg around his and laid her head on his shoulder, a hand on his damp, flat belly.
    Mark stroked her arm. ‘No, it’s not important. I don’t worry about it. You’re fabulous. And you’ve been very kind to me.’
    ‘Kind? Hah!’ Diane snorted. ‘Nothing kind about it. You walked into my office offering yourself in any capacity you were needed. It didn’t take you long to twig where you’d be more use than most. Your help with the paperwork’s much appreciated, natch, but it’s here you’ve been outstanding.’ She patted the bed.
    ‘Yeah, it’s been fun.’ The young man fell silent. He was staring at the ceiling, his eyesunblinking.
    Diane pulled on a towelling robe and disappeared into the tiny kitchen. She reappeared with two tumblers full of ice and fizzy liquid. ‘Rum and Coke okay? Mostly Coke. I have to make a speech tonight.’
    ‘Yeah, thanks.’
    She sat beside him. ‘Hey, Mark, what’s going on? You said it’s been fun, as if it’s over. You’ve mentioned the age gap, which normally is taboo. It’s tough, you being married and that, but I don’t gossip and neither do you. So what’s up?’
    ‘Nothing,’ he murmured, and indicated the detumescent member again. ‘Nothing’s up, as you can see.’ Neither of them laughed. He took the tumbler with both hands. ‘Maybe that’s it, Diane. You’re fabulous, but it can be hard keeping two women content. And if I fail with Susie, she starts to cry.’
    ‘Oh, I get it. The wife comes first, is that it?’ Diane could not stop herself sounding peevish.
    ‘But of course,’ he answered slowly. ‘This is a fling, as you’ve often made clear. I accepted that. Susie isn’t a fling, and she needs me more than you do.’ He shifted awkwardly and avoided her gaze. ‘When I started researching for you, you were a member of the opposition. We could have a lot of fun , out of the public eye. Now it’s changed.’
    ‘No, it isn’t. I’m the same, you’re the same.’ Fear curdled her voice.
    ‘You’re in government. That alters everything. Even if your staff and officials don’t chatter – and I wouldn’t put it past them – you’re under far closer scrutiny than ever before. You have to consider your own position. A Secretary of State with a boyfriend who’s a brand-new fellow Member of Parliament, married and twenty years younger – the press’d have a field day. Wouldn’t they?’
    Diane jumped up from the bed, seeking distraction. ‘The press don’t need facts. They make them up. At least, Jim Betts and the Globe do. Did you see that horrible piece he wrote the day I was appointed? Said I’d exploited my sexuality to advance myself. Implied that I’d slept my way to prominence. Here it is.’
    Mark was familiar with the article in question, but it would have been impolite to stem Diane in full flow. He read:
    Diane Clark. Women’s rights champion. She who has set herself up as the voice of womanhood throughout the kingdom. Yet who is she? What gave her the right to campaign on behalf of other women? She has never had a successful relationship in her entire life. She was married for only two years, and ditched the chap in favour of a string of lovers. She tub-thumps on behalf of mothers with children, yet she’s never been a mother herself. How can we trust her?
    ‘It’s awful, Diane,’ her lover said. ‘He’s a complete turd, that Jim Betts. Doesn’t care who he craps on. You shouldn’t get upset.’
    ‘He called me the “vilest lady” in the country. Me! And what for? What did I ever do to him? Not content with implying that I’ve