Sixty Days to Live by Dennis Wheatley Read Free Book Online

occasions he had seen her.
    Hemmingway Hughes, his pale, clever face smiling but sphinxlike, made an excellent best man and, without appearing to do anything very much, saw to it with his usual efficiency that all the arrangements worked smoothly.
    One guest whom Lavina was particularly pleased to see afterwards at the reception was Oliver’s son, her cousin Roy. He was the bad hat of the family and had spent the best part of the last ten years roving about in the Far East, earning a precarious living in a variety of rather dubious ways; but he was a goodnatured, amusing person and Lavina had always been fond of him.
    When he managed to get her to himself for a moment he laughingly congratulated her upon having been clever enough to find such a good-looking millionaire for a husband.
    ‘You’re over thirty so it’s time you settled down yourself, Roy,’ she laughed back at him.
    ‘No one will have me,’ he grinned.
    ‘I don’t believe it.’ Her glance took in his bronzed, attractive face with the fair, wavy hair above it. ‘You haven’t lost your looks and you always
were
a devil with the women!’
    ‘That’s just the trouble. Each girl seems to find out about one of the others, and there’s always a rumpus before I even get as far as popping the question. Besides, there aren’t so many young women knocking around who have the cash and would be prepared to keep me.’
    ‘You’re still broke, then?’
    ‘Absolutely stony. That’s why I decided to come back to England. Things were getting too hot for me in the East. Too many writs flying about, and I thought I might induce the old man to kill the fatted calf and set me up in some sort of business here.’
    ‘Poor Oliver’s killed too many fatted calves for you already, my lad, and he’s never had much money, so I shouldn’t think you’ll have any luck in that direction.’
    He sighed. ‘No. He was decent enough, but he’s so wrapped up in his astronomy that it’s almost impossible to get him to talk business. How about this wealthy husband of yours, though? He’s got all sorts of interests. Think you could do me a turn, old girl, and get him to put me into something?’
    Lavina smiled a little doubtfully. ‘You’ve blotted your copybook so often, Roy, and I’d have to tell Sam the truth about you; but if you care to leave it like that, I’ll ask him if he can do anything when we get back from our honeymoon.’
    ‘Thanks. You’re a darling. Always were. Don’t blacken the old horse too much, though, and I really will put in man’s time if you can persuade him to give me a job. You might tell him, too, that I approve the brand of champagne he’s given us for this little “do”. I’m going to knock off another bottle before I hit the trail for London.’
    ‘Do, Roy. Two, if you like. And thanks for the compliment, because I chose the wine and am paying for it.’
    He lifted an eyebrow lazily. ‘Poor old girl. With his moneybags to draw on, you must be crackers! But you always were queer about that sort of thing. Anyhow, good hunting on your honeymoon!’
    As some other guests came up he left her and, while she was talking with them, she noticed that Fink-Drummond had got Sam a little apart from the crowd, in another corner of the room.
    Fink-Drummond was saying: ‘Listen, Sam, I hate to drag you away from your friends at a time like this but I’ve a most important matter that I must tell you about before you leave England. I won’t keep you long, but is there somewhere we could have a quiet word together?’
    ‘Of course, Finkie, if it’s something really urgent.’ Sam glanced quickly round the room and added: ‘Come along to the library.The family use it as a living-room so it’s been shut up for to-day. No one will disturb us there.’
    When they reached the library, Fink-Drummond perched himself on the corner of Gervaise Stapleton’s big desk and said impressively: ‘Since I lunched with you the other day I’ve been doing a