An Excellent Wife by Charlotte Lamb Read Free Book Online Page B

you've lost him.'
    'Patience!' explained Thomas.
    'I recognised her voice.' Not to mention the way she referred to him as if he were a parcel rather than a man. So she was almost twenty-three? He would have said she-was younger; he had been sure she was closer to childhood than that. She had such soft, clear, glowing skin and such a direct gaze, none of the pretences or defences of adulthood. None of the manners, either, he thought grimly, remembering the way she had badgered and bamboozled him into coming here.
    'There's a big gap between Patience and Toby, isn't there?' Why had their parents waited so long to have another child?
    'Our mum wasn't her mum!' Thomas told him pityingly, as if he ought to have known, or at least guessed that. 'Patience's mum died when she was born and our Dad married our Mum and had us.'
    James stared. 'Oh, then she isn't...?'
    Before he could finish that sentence Thomas gruffly and with obvious indignation said, 'But she's our sister, all the same! She was five when Dad married our mum, and she loved our mum; she told us lots of times. She loved having a mum like everybody else, and then when we were born that made us a real family, Patience says.'
    James had never felt so clumsy and insensitive in his life. 'Of course,' he quickly said, going dark red.
    The leaves parted and Emmy peered in. 'We'd better go in; she can get very cross if you're late for meals.'
    James was relieved to escape from the boy's clear, accusing stare, and began crawling out through the bushes. So, she was their half-sister? They obviously adored her, and she understood them—well, she was barely out of childhood herself. Twenty-three. That wasn't very old. He remembered being that young. With difficulty. Well, he was not staying for supper; he would ring for a taxi at once and get back to the safety and peace of his own home.
    Somehow, though, the prospect did not appeal— Barny and Enid would be out. He would have to rummage around for a snack for himself, probably ending up with a cheese sandwich or something equally easy to prepare, then spend the rest of the evening alone in an empty house.
    Of course, he could go to his club or a restaurant, but that wasn't an exciting prospect, either. Had his life always been this lonely and empty? Or was he just depressed for some inexplicable reason?
    The young Kirbys led him back down the winding paths of the garden to the house; their friends disappeared in all directions to their own homes and James followed Emmy through a door into what turned out to be the kitchen.
    It was enormous: high-ceilinged, painted yellow, with green cupboards—a cosy, comfortable room, full of a delicious smell of food. A great pan was boiling away on an old range, filling the air with steam, and beside it was another pan which bubbled and gave off that marvellous smell of vegetables and herbs. At the well- scrubbed deal table stood a woman grating mounds of cheese without looking up.

    'Wash your hands and be quick; this is nearly ready!' dictated Patience, taking hold of the handle of the pan and pouring the contents into a sink.
    James went over to watch her, and discovered pasta filling a huge colander with golden, steaming coils. His stomach clenched in sudden hunger; he loved spaghetti. He looked into the pot still cooking: tomato, mushrooms, red, green and yellow peppers, and a strong odour of basil, chives, onions and garlic. His nose had already identified most of them.
    'Have you washed your hands?' Patience demanded, looking round at him sternly, as if he was one of the children?
    James opened and shut his mouth like a goldfish, meaning to tell her that he was not eating but so hungry he knew he would not give the words any credibility.
    'Come on, Man,' Emmy told him, dragging him away. 'She gets cross if you aren't sitting down at the table when she brings the supper in!'
    They washed in a small room next to the kitchen, then Emmy pulled him down a chilly corridor into a big room