Cuckoo in the Night by Pamela Kent

Author:Pamela Kent [Pamela Kent]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: F
ISBN: 9788726564976
Publisher: Saga Egmont International
Published: 2021-10-17T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter IX

THE dining-room at the White Hart was extremely comfortable, with a lot of Edwardian splendour overlying the modern innovations as if apologising for them. To have said that the modern innovations were trying to stifle the Edwardian splendour would not have been right, for the very atmosphere of the hotel was dependent on its past.

With the dignity of the cathedral rising up close to it, and the sunshine streaming through the windows on to the impeccable linen and gleaming cutlery, it was a very pleasant place in which to relax for a short while in between hurrying from shop to shop, and making an appointment to have a hair-do the following day, and stealing ten minutes inside the cathedral itself.

After sipping a sherry in the cocktail bar, with Tim beaming at her almost complacently over a pint of beer, Janine actually enjoyed being escorted to the table in a corner that had been reserved for them. There were some pink roses on it and they smelled delightful, and while Tim consulted the wine-list she relaxed and inhaled the perfume, and by the time they had ordered and unfolded their napkins she was even prepared to concede that this was an excellent idea in the middle of a busy day … a period of halcyon calm that refreshed body and spirit, and would be something to look back upon when the day itself was spent.

Or was there some doubt about it being a period of halcyon calm? If Tim continued his argumentative brand of conversation, and watched her all the time with those disturbing, derisive eyes of his she might be anxious for the meal to finish quickly, in which case it would be a pity that it had ever begun and she had been beguiled into giving up a cosy Copper Kettle lunch—the Copper Kettle being also near the cathedral—with a choice of scrambled egg and sausages, shepherd’s pie or steak-and-kidney pudding, followed by fruit tart and custard, and a large cup of tea.

There was nothing on the White Hart menu that resembled any of those items, and when her wing of cold chicken accompanied by a green salad arrived she was not really sorry. She was feeling hungry, and the chicken was deliciously tender. Tim had ordered a dish of highly spiced curry that revolted her because she disliked curry, but apart from that he appeared to be in an extraordinarily sunny mood. His mildly critical attitude over coffee and buns had disappeared, and in its place was a considerate, grateful, harmonious desire to be on the most excellent terms with her that surprised her a little, although it also aroused in her a certain sense of appreciation.

They discussed all sorts of things that they could not possibly have discussed during the prickly coffee interlude, and as a result Janine discovered that they had certain shared interests, and their attitude towards a good many things was very similar. For instance, they both disliked towns as places in which

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