A Kind of Loving Read Online Free Page A

just her way an' she was all right underneath. Well now I've done. She allus has to spoil everything.'
    'How does it feel then to have one less?' Auntie Edna asks in a minute;
    ' Oh, you have mixed feelings when it comes to the time, y'know. I shall miss her, no doubt about that. She's a good lass, our Christine. Allus was ... But it's high time she settled down an' started a family. Many a lass at twenty-seven's got 'em growin' up an' at school.'
    'Seems a nice young feller she's married,' Uncle William says.
    'Oh, David's one of the best. A right grand lad. She'll be all right with him; I haven't a minute's worry on that score.'
    'Such a nicely spoken young man,' Auntie Edna says. 'Lovely manners, too.'
    'He's educated, David is,' the Old Man says, as though this accounts for everything. 'Educated.'
    'And not a bit o' side with it, neither,' the Old Lady says. 'Oh, we couldn't have wished for a better match for her.'
    Auntie Edna cocks a look at me where I'm slumped down in the easy-chair taking all in and saying nothing. 'I suppose it'll be Victor next,' she says. I like Auntie Edna but I do think she's a bit of a busybody at times.
    'No, we shan't be going to Victor's wedding yet awhile,' the Old Lady says, talking about me as if I'm not there. 'Give him time; he's not twenty-one yet. And I don't even think he's courtin'. Course, I suppose I'll be the last to get to know when he is. I'm not bothered about him, though. If they were all as steady an' content as him we'd do well enough. It's young Jim 'at worries me sometimes. Allus studyin', y'know. Never seems to give his mind a rest. He fancies bein' a doctor an' I suppose he'll have to work hard if he's going to pass for college; but I sometimes think he overdoes it a bit. I found him one night, Edna - and this is without a word of a lie - I found him sitting up in bed in the middle of the night, fast asleep, with his books open all round him. Fast asleep, he was. Y'see he can't even leave it alone when he's supposed to be resting. His mind never rests; it's allus on the work. I don't like it. He's growin' fast and he never did have Victor's constitution. Like a young horse from the day he was born, Victor was. Never a minute's worry over illness with him - except the usual kid's ailments, o' course, an' that time he fell on the railings an' cut his head open.'
    Auntie Edna looks round at me and gives me a sort of fond smile. I wink at her and she twinkles at me.
    'Jim's certainly shot up since we saw him last,' she says.
    'Aye, too fast for his strength. He's taking all his strength into his brain instead of his body. I've been thinking I'll have a walk over to the doctor's with him after the holidays and get his advice.'
    'If he's happy it'll help a lot,' Uncle William says. 'He's-a very intelligent lad, you can see that; and lads like that have to have plenty to occupy their minds or they get restless and run down. I shouldn't worry too much about him, Lucy. See what the doctor says, by all means, but don't fret.'
    'Aye, that's all very well, William, but when you have 'em you fret about 'em. It's nature.'
    I don't really think the Old Lady should have said this because Uncle William and Auntie Edna haven't any kids and I think they miss not having them sometimes.
    'Well we want him to make the most of his chance," the Old Man says. 'I only hope we'll be able to keep him till he can earn for hisself. It wasn't so bad with our Christine - she had scholarships; but they tell me scholarships are nobbut a drop in the ocean when a lad's studyin' medicine.' He fishes for his pipe and bacca, then remembers the big box of cigars he has in the cupboard. 'Here, William,' he says, 'try one o' these. David bought me 'em. Very good of him, wasn't it?'
    'Very good indeed, Arthur.' Uncle William takes a cigar and sniffs at it.' I thought you'd been treating yourself.'
    'You thought wrong,' the Old Man says. 'I'm not in t'cigar class.'
    'Not far off, surely, Arthur?' Uncle William