Page 119 of The Christmas Invitation
‘Yer still ’ere, then?’ Den said to Piers as he set the teapot before Clara.
‘As you see,’ Piers said loftily. ‘And I’d like something else to eat other than that cake.’
‘Tough titties, I don’t do individual bleedin’ menus,’ said Den.
I heard Zelda giggle and had to choke down a laugh myself.
Lex got up and silently passed the biscuit barrel to Piers, who took it without thanks.
‘CanIsay tough ti—’ began Teddy.
‘No, you can’t,’ Tottie told him quickly.
‘Oh.’ He sounded disappointed, but began to eat a slice of cake. ‘If there are seeds in this cake, will plants grow in my stomach?’
‘No, it’s not a suitable habitat for germination,’ said River, who had seated himself on a small, low, padded chair that might have been made for him.
‘It’s an interesting idea,’ said Henry.
Sybil was sitting in the corner of a sofa as far from Piers as she could have got, but was looking slightly revived by her tea. It was odd, I thought, that despite being so anxious about him before his arrival, now he was here she seemed more nervous of him than fond.
Mark and Zelda took their plates and cups back to the window seat and carried on their intimately low-voiced conversation, and Sybil gave them another puzzled glance.
I found Lex was looking at me in a frowning sort of way and when I took my cup and plate to an armchair just outside the fireside circle, he followed and sat down next to me.
‘Mark seems surprisingly happy to see my sister again, doesn’t he?’ he said drily. ‘They had a bit of a boy and girl romance years ago, before Zelda went off to drama school, but they haven’t seen much of each other since.’
‘When you haven’t seen someone for ages, it can feel as if you’re seeing them for the first time,’ I said.
He looked at me seriously and said, ‘That was certainly true when I saw you again.’ Then he gave me a searching look. ‘I thought Mark was keen on you. From what Sybil said to me at Underhill earlier, she seems to expect an engagement announcement at any moment!’
I felt myself blushing. ‘Sybil got the wrong end of the stick.’
‘Well, you keep telling me you aren’t interested in Mark, but when he suddenly announced he was coming back with us, I did wonder. Hesaidhe wanted to ask your advice about paint colours.’
‘I expect he’s asking Zelda’s instead now,’ I said. ‘Look, I know he was a bit keen on me, but I’m more than happy he’s switched his attention to Zelda. I’m sure Sybil just thought that if Mark and I married, it would … sort of make everything tidy.’
‘I expect you’re right and I’m glad you’re not nursing a broken heart.’
‘No, though there is someone here I do have a soft spot for,’ I admitted.
I’d put Pansy down while I had my tea and she’d gone to join the other two dogs, who had strategically placed themselves near the coffee table.
‘I’m going to ask Sybil if she’ll sell me Pansy, so long as I can pay her in the New Year.’
‘I’m afraid she told me earlier that she’d accepted an offer for her,’ Lex said, dashing my hopes.
‘Oh, now I wish I hadn’t waited!’ I said sadly. ‘I didn’t realize how quickly I’d get attached to her.’
‘And vice versa. She makes a beeline for you whenever she sees you.’
‘I hope the people who are buying her are nice.’ I sighed. ‘Oh, well, it wasn’t meant to be. I’ll just have to enjoy playing with her over Christmas.’
Mark had torn himself away from Zelda to fetch another slice of cake. He looked a bit more mellow: food did seem to sweeten his temper … unless it was love.
Ihopedit was love this time, for Zelda’s sake, because I’d taken an instant liking to her.
‘I’d better head back to Underhill shortly,’ he announced, but refused Lex’s offer to drive him back.
