A Brighter Tomorrow by Maggie Ford

Author:Maggie Ford
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Canelo Digital Publishing Limited
Published: 2021-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

Bertram sat in one of the many comfortable, leather, button-back armchairs in the gentlemen’s club, his rotund figure dwarfed by the well-built, broad-shouldered man with the strong jaw, typical of the Dutch, sitting beside him.

Both lounged comfortably, both enjoying a cigar and sipping brandy brought to them by a silent, deferential waiter. The room was hushed, the low murmur of men’s voices hardly breaking the silence. In this atmosphere Bertram fingered his glass and stole a glance at his companion.

‘I can’t apologize enough for putting this matter at your door,’ he began.

‘I’m very glad you did, Doctor Lowe. I do have my son’s future welfare constantly at heart. I would have been happy rather that he did not have this idiotic notion that he is some sort of an artist and concentrated all his energies on his career as a medical man.’

Doctor Henk Deel spoke impeccable English, had come to England forty years ago to study medicine, had married an English girl of a good family and settled here after graduating. At sixty he was heartened to have his younger son Michael set to follow him into medicine.

His older son, Willem – known as Willy – was senior to Michael by eight years. Their sister Julia, born in between, was married and nicely settled. But Willy took after his mother – quite an accomplished artist in her way – and, having no intention of following his father into the medical profession, had taken himself off to roam the world, painting and falling into debt, forever sending distress calls home for help out of some financial crisis or other. Henk Deel had despaired of him years ago.

Fortunately, although Michael had also inherited his mother’s artistic bent, he was far more malleable than his older brother. He’d studied hard at university and was his father’s pride. However, not wanting to stunt the young man in his need to express himself artistically, he’d allowed him to study art. When Doctor Lowe, a friend of many years standing, had asked if the boy could help this odd child he’d befriended recently to speak better English and develop her own artistic skills, he’d seen it as an outlet for his son’s hobby and perhaps a way of getting it out of his system. He’d tried to stop Willy, and look where that had landed the boy!

Thus he sat back to hear what was bothering his old friend. Lowe had revealed little over the telephone he had recently had installed on the wall of his surgery, leaving Henk to chuckle as the man rang off having uttered just a few words, no doubt unnerved still by the newness of the instrument.

‘So tell me: what is on your mind?’ he asked, laying his cigar in the ashtray to make it seem that he was ready to concentrate on what his friend had to say.

Bertram gnawed at his thick lips. ‘First, I must thank you for allowing your son to tutor Miss Jay. As far as I can see, he has done a decent job.

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