A Time to Remember by Josephine Cox

Author:Josephine Cox [Mullin, Steph && Mabry, Nicole]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2022-01-20T17:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

BARBARA PAID MAUREEN’S cheque into her account at her bank in Clitheroe. She had written Maureen a short note to thank her on one of her stiff little notecards with her address embossed across the top, having decided that she could not bear to speak to Maureen on the telephone in case her voice betrayed how utterly inadequate she thought the sum was.

How could Maureen have been so mean with her best friend? But then, thought Barbara, rather pityingly, it wasn’t entirely unlikely that Maureen, who had never had any money in her life before that old lady left her a legacy, should think that fifty pounds was quite a lot of money. It was probably rather more than Maureen had earned in a year when she still worked. It was, regrettably, quite a large percentage of what Barbara herself earned, giving piano and elocution lessons.

Disappointing, yes, but Maureen’s cheque was a bonus, and at least it allowed Barbara to pay what was due on the bank loan – such a relief – which in turn allowed her to continue with the expensive roof of The Manor over her head. It also met a few, though not all, of her unpaid bills. She thought the painter could perhaps wait a little longer for his money, but she had to pay Mr Gathercole immediately.

Barbara had drawn some cash out of the bank, and as soon as she got home and had put away the car, she carefully counted out the correct amount. She took one of her thick creamy envelopes from her desk in the little study, wrote Mr Gathercole’s name on the front with an elegant flourish, put the coins inside and sealed it. Then she went down the road to his cottage, which was just a few minutes’ walk away.

Barbara opened the little wooden gate set in a stone wall abutting the lane and entered Mr Gathercole’s pretty front garden. The doorbell was literally a bell beside the door with a rope attached to the clapper. Barbara rang it rather self-consciously; it sounded rudely intrusive in the quiet of the afternoon.

There was quite a long wait and then Mrs Gathercole came to the door. She was a very small woman in her seventies, with straight grey hair and little round glasses. She wore the ubiquitous crossover pinafore, and her legs were encased in beige lisle stockings. Barbara had barely met her before and thought she looked a sweet old lady. It must be an occasion for her to have a visit from the owner of The Manor, her husband’s celebrated employer.

‘Good afternoon, Mrs Gathercole,’ said Barbara, graciously, looking down from her height.

The day was sunny and Barbara was wearing her broad-brimmed hat to shield her complexion from the sun. The hat not only added to her height, but made rather an impression, as Barbara well knew; one that had had the desired effect with the clerk at the bank earlier, but that Barbara realised now, too late, was not appropriate here.

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