Page 118 of The Christmas Retreat
‘Iwilllet you read it, although not the rest of the family, because so much of it is personal to Milly and her life with Arwen after she left here – but not just yet.’
‘Oh, couldn’t I read it now?’ I pleaded.
‘No, I think, on the whole, I’ll give it to you after the family conference, which I’ll suggest we hold tomorrow morning.’
I’ve said it many times before: my mother is the most maddening woman in the world.
37
Unplumbed Depths
We had celebratory champagne at dinner and Cariad was allowed a little sip, which went right to her head, so she became giggly, until she’d eaten enough to counteract it.
Afterwards we took our coffee into the sitting room, but Cariad went straight to bed voluntarily, since she is now deep in the world of Harry Potter and Hogwarts.
Opal, who was still inclined to be detached and huffy, announced that no one need drive her to the station next morning because she’d run into Verity on the landing and she’d very kindly offered her a lift, which would be much easier since, she presumed, she would be taking all their equipment back with her.
She cast Pearl a reproachful look, but her sister said indignantly that she’d already offered to take half of it with her.
‘There’s no need now, Pearl, if Verity’s driving Opal home. It’s very kind of her,’ said Nerys cheerfully.
‘Not really, I’m contributing to the petrol,’ Opal said.
‘If Verity felt so washed out that she couldn’t come down to dinner, is she up to the long drive to London?’ asked Kate.
‘Oh, I think she’s OK really, she’s just had enough of this place, like me,’ Opal said rudely.
‘Dear girl, we’ll miss yousomuch,’ said Noel gently, and Evie gave him a sideways grin.
It was the first time I’d heard Noel say anything that could be remotely construed as even mildly critical of anyone, but I was sure he had hidden depths, which my mother was busily engaged in plumbing.
‘I’ll give you a hand loading things into the car in the morning,’ offered Pearl, and Toby said he’d be more than happy to help, too.
‘I can manage,’ Opal snapped. ‘And since we’re leaving really early, I’m now off to bed!’
We all watched her go without regret.
Then Evie said to Nerys, ‘I think perhaps some of the family might like to go to bed early, too, because I’m going to send you some bedtime reading if you give me your email addresses.’
‘What on earth do you mean?’ asked Nerys.
‘That I’d like you to read Arwen’s letters to Milly tonight, because there are issues in there we need to discuss and I propose we have a family conference right after breakfast tomorrow.’
‘Whatkindof issues?’ demanded Nerys uneasily, and Timon, who was sitting next to her, put his arm around her shoulders.
‘You’ll see,’ said Evie enigmatically. ‘I assume you’ll want Rhys there at our conference?’
‘Yes, and Uncle Noel too,’ Nerys said.
‘Well, I’ve already got Noel’s email address, so if the rest of you give me yours, I’ll send the letters document over to you all when I go to bed, and you can burn the midnight oil a little.’
They did so, and then Evie said, ‘It will be better if we don’t discuss anything until we meet after breakfast.’
‘I’ll come over early,’ Noel said. ‘If you’re emailing that document soon, I think I’ll go home now.’
The others had been listening, looking rather mystified but intrigued.
‘Pearl, you’ll have to go down to the studio on your own in the morning, but I know you’re dying to see how your pieces have come out of the kiln,’ Timon said.
