Scandal in the Village by Shaw Rebecca

Author:Shaw, Rebecca [Shaw, Rebecca]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781409140085
Publisher: Orion
Published: 2010-12-29T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Grandmama burst through the front door calling, ‘Harriet, my dear, where are you? Are you there? Hello, Fran, my darling!’

Jimbo came out of the sitting-room. ‘Hello, Mother, what’s the matter, is there a fire?’

‘Not a fire, Jimbo, dear.’ She held her face for him to kiss. ‘I’ve got such news. You won’t believe. Where’s Harriet? What are you doing home at this time?’

‘Half day, I do have one occasionally, I’ve a function tonight.’

Harriet had been washing her hair and came down the stairs rubbing it dry. ‘Hello, Mother-in-law. What’s the news then?’

Grandmama nodded her head in the direction of the kitchen. Jimbo and Harriet followed her in.

‘Didn’t want little Fran to hear, the children aren’t home yet are they?’

‘Another half an hour. Why?’

Grandmama seated herself at the kitchen table and digging into her handbag brought out a small plastic bag. ‘In here is the piece I need for repairing my sewing machine. It’s so old they’ve stopped stocking the spare parts for it now and I’ve searched all over and found a little man in Culworth who’s managed to get it for me.’

‘Is that it? Is that the news?’ Jimbo was very disappointed, he’d expected a murder at least.

‘Of course not. But you should be delighted for me, I’ve really missed not being able to use it. I’m going to make things for charity. I’ve a very good line in stuffed dolls, they are very stylish, of course, they’re not some arty crafty rubbish masquerading as designer dolls. However, while he was finding out how much I owed him this chappie asked me if I lived in Culworth and I said no I lived in Turnham Malpas, so he said in that case then you’ll know Dicky Tutt. He knows Dicky because it’s where Dicky works in the office that the sewing machine man managed to get this piece from, so he knows Dicky very well, you see. Been dealing with Dicky’s company for years and years. So we got talking about what a nice man he is and what fun, which he is, and I said his wife’s lovely too, she’s the village school caretaker and she works for my son.’ Grandmama paused and looked at them both to make sure she had their complete attention. ‘Then he said … You’ll never believe this . . .’

Jimbo stood up. ‘Now look, Mother, I’m not having you going round spreading rumours again. You’ll please me if you keep this all to yourself, I really don’t want to know. Your rumours have proved dangerous in the past, so you are stopping right there.’

Harriet intervened. ‘Steady on, your mother’s only telling us what he said, she hasn’t made it up has she?’

‘Thank you, Harriet, for springing to my defence. As Harriet said, I’m only repeating to you what he said to me.’

‘I don’t want to hear what some piffling sewing-machine repairer has to say about anything. Now please, Mother, say no more. If all you have to talk about is unreliable gossip then you can leave right now.

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