No Wings to Fly by Jess Foley Read Free Book Online

student. What are you studying?’
    ‘Law. I’m at Cambridge.’
    She smiled. ‘I’m impressed. I hear there’s lots of money in being a lawyer. Judging by Mr Dickens’s
Bleak House
,anyway. How much longer have you got at university?’
    ‘One more year.’
    ‘And then into the big wide world.’
    ‘Well – we shall see.’
    ‘I was a student for a time,’ she said a little wistfully. He was easy to talk to, and she felt the need to tell him. ‘I was studying to be a schoolteacher.’
    ‘Oh? What happened?’
    She shrugged. ‘Things – got in the way. I had to give it up.’
    ‘Oh,’ he said, ‘that’s a pity.’
    She nodded. ‘Yes – so I came here to Whitton – to work for Mr Haskin and his wife.’ She fell silent again; she was telling far too much to this complete stranger. She glanced towards the window. The rain’s initial fury was fading. ‘It’s easing a little,’ she said.
    ‘It looks like it,’ he said with a nod. Then he added, glancing at the book on the table, ‘I see you came prepared for getting caught in the rain.’
    ‘Oh – this . . . I found it, on the way here.’
    ‘You found it?’
    ‘It was on a bench, in the recreation ground. It had just been left there. I thought it would be ruined if the rain came on.’
    ‘No doubt it would. May I?’ He got up and picked up the book, looking at the cover. ‘Do you like Miss Braddon’s sensation novels?’
    ‘Well – I’ve read two or three – including this one. But I might read it again.’
    ‘I haven’t read it – though I believe half the housemaids in Britain have done so.’ He set it down on the table. ‘What’s it about?’
    ‘It’s about a rather headstrong woman who commits bigamy.’
    ‘She sounds monstrous.’
    Lily gave a little laugh. ‘Oh, she does it mostly through carelessness, I think.’ She shook her head, and added ironically, ‘And now I’m beginning to think perhaps I should have left the book where it was – but I get short of things to read.’
    With scarcely a moment’s hesitation, he turned to his briefcase, opened it and took out a book. ‘Here,’ he said, ‘you can borrow this, if you like.’
    She took it from his outstretched hand and looked at the cover. ‘
Mary Queen of Scots.
I’ve read a little about her, but not a whole book. Oh, I’d love to read it if I may.’
    ‘Of course. I’m happy to lend it to you.’
    She smoothed a hand over the book’s cover. ‘I can’t guarantee how soon I’ll finish it.’
    ‘That’s all right. I’ve got other things I can read.’
    ‘But you were in the middle of reading it yourself.’
    ‘I’d only just started it. I can begin again when you bring it back.’
    ‘And how will that be – that I bring it back to you? I can’t run up here just when I feel like it, and it’s not often I get sent here on an errand.’
    ‘Well, I could meet you somewhere.’ He paused. ‘Couldn’t I?’
    ‘Well – perhaps . . .’ Her voice was hesitant. ‘I don’t get much time off.’
    ‘But you must get
some
.’
    ‘Yes, of course. And I have certain errands that take me away from the house.’
    ‘Oh?’
    ‘Well, for one thing, on Sundays I go to get midday dinner for Mrs Haskin’s mother. She’s over in Henhurst, and I often get a few hours off during the afternoon.’
    ‘Oh . . . and have you got some time off this coming Sunday?’
    ‘Yes, I have – a little. After going to see Mrs Shalcross.’
    ‘What do you usually do with your time off?’
    ‘Well, if the weather’s nice, I might go for a little walk in the park. Or on a few occasions I’ve taken the train into Corster. Just to have a look around – when I’ve got a bit more time, that is.’ She glanced out through the window. ‘Look, the rain’s just about stopped now.’ She still held the book he had given her. ‘Are you sure about lending me this?’
    ‘Oh, absolutely.’
    ‘Thank you.’ She took up the copy of
Aurora Floyd
, and put both books into her