Agatha Raisin and the Love from Hell Read Online Free

breakfast table and find they are looking at a stranger.’
    ‘But there are happy marriages. You know there are.’
    ‘Some are lucky; most go in for compromise.’
    ‘You mean, I should dress the way James wants and live the way James wants me to?’
    ‘If you want to stay married. Or go to one of those marriage counsellors.’
    ‘I don’t see how a bachelor like you can know anything about marriage.’
    ‘Intelligent observation.’
    Agatha clutched her hair. ‘I don’t know what to do. I made such a scene in the pub. James was flirting with this Melissa woman and I happen to know he once had a fling with her.’
    ‘James is not a bad sort, you know. You probably rub him up the wrong way. You’re a bit of a bully.’
    ‘You haven’t heard the whole story. He doesn’t want me to work!’
    ‘And are you? Working, I mean.’
    ‘I’ve got a short-term contract with a shoe company in Mircester. James hit the roof. He said I should leave work for those that need it.’
    ‘Maybe the pair of you should go back to separate lives and date occasionally.’
    ‘I’ll make it work,’ said Agatha suddenly. ‘I love James. He must be made to see reason.’
    ‘Does he talk to anyone about his troubles?’
    Agatha laughed. ‘James! Not on your life.’
    James at that moment was sitting in the vicarage parlour facing the vicar’s wife, Mrs Bloxby.
    ‘It’s not too late to call?’ James was asking.
    ‘No, not at all,’ said Mrs Bloxby, amused that James had not seemed to notice that she was in her night-gown and dressing-gown.
    ‘I really don’t know what to do about Agatha,’ James said. ‘I am a very worried man.’
    ‘What is the matter? Would you like some tea or something stronger?’
    ‘No, I feel if I don’t talk to someone, I’ll burst. You’re a friend of Agatha.’
    ‘I hope a very good one.’
    ‘Has she said anything to you about our marriage?’
    ‘If she had complained to me, I would not tell you. But as a matter of fact, she has not. What was the scene in the pub about? It’s all round the village.’
    ‘I went along to the pub and Melissa was there, so we had a drink together. Agatha came in and threw a jealous scene.’
    ‘That is understandable. It is well known in the village that you had an . . . er . . . episode with Melissa before your marriage.’
    ‘Well, it’s all the other things. She’s a lousy housekeeper.’
    ‘She has Doris Simpson to clean for her, that is, her own cottage. Why not let Doris do yours?’
    ‘But Agatha should do it.’
    ‘You are very old-fashioned. You cannot expect a woman who has been successful in business and who has always paid someone to do her cleaning to do yours.’
    James went on as if she had not spoken. ‘Then, she knows I hate the smell of cigarette smoke. She smells of cigarettes.’
    ‘Mrs Raisin was smoking when you first met her and when you were married.’
    ‘But she promised to give up. She said she would. And she said she would never smoke in my cottage. But she puffs away when she thinks I’m not looking.’
    ‘You said, “my cottage”. It’s a very odd marriage. Why did you encourage Mrs Raisin to keep her own cottage?’
    ‘Because mine is too small.’
    ‘The pair of you have surely enough money to sell your homes and move into a bigger house.’
    ‘Perhaps. Now she’s taken a job. A public relations job for some shoe company in Mircester.’
    ‘What is wrong with that?’
    ‘Agatha doesn’t need to work.’
    ‘I think Mrs Raisin does need to work from time to time. Perhaps you made her feel like a failed wife. Do you complain a lot?’
    ‘Only when she does something wrong, and she always glares at me and says something rude.’
    ‘And does she often do something wrong?’
    ‘All the time – bad meals, sloppy housekeeping, tarty clothes . . .’
    Mrs Bloxby held up one hand. ‘Wait a minute. Mrs Raisin’s clothes tarty? Really, I cannot allow that. She is always smartly dressed. And it does seem as