Charis Read Online Free Page B

leasing the house. She had
the money her father had left her, plus the royalties from his thirty-seven
books which were still popular and selling well even more than ten years after
his death. And, as well, every year or so the rights for filming another book were
bought. She had plenty of money. James agreed to her request and she set about
finding a house of her very own.
    After looking at dozens of houses, she finally found, and fell in
love with, a mews house just a couple of streets away from the river in
Chelsea. It was in quite a dilapidated state and with the help of an architect
friend of James, who had also known her father, she decided on a complete
renovation, including underfloor heating and solar panels on the roof at the
back of the house which fortunately faced south. While the work was being done
she stayed in the St. John's Wood house and continued with her music studies.
There was a lot for her to do; choosing colours, flooring and tiles, and
furnishings. When the house was finally finished, nine months later, she was
very pleased with the result. Before the St. John's Wood house was leased
again, Charis signed the basement flat over to the Chandlers. The day she moved
into her Chelsea house she felt that at long last she was ready to start her
new life.
    *****
    The e-mails from Henry had begun within a few weeks of Mildred's
death. At first Charis tried to ignore them. He wanted her to go and visit him
– he had no way of showing his gratitude for all that she’d done for his mother
and he’d like to show her some of the work he’d done, some of the beautiful
artefacts he’d found. He began another dig, and then on to another, and still
the e-mails kept coming. When they became more insistent, she finally responded
and said she was too busy to go, totally involved with getting her house
finished. Then she had exams to take and couldn't leave.
    Her final exam was early in May when she was twenty and she’d run
out of excuses. As though Henry somehow knew this, he sent her an airline
ticket to Cairo via e-mail, with an open-ended return date. He’d moved to a new
site – again – and was excited about the things they were starting to find. He
really wanted to show his appreciation. “Please come.” He'd be busy but she'd
be free to come and go as she wished. She would have comfortable accommodation
in the home of the wealthy businessman that he was staying with. She could
spend just one day there, a week or more - whatever suited her. The ticket was
for Wednesday morning.  It was already Monday. She called James and went to his
house for dinner to discuss it with him and his wife Helen.
    James had married rather later in life than usual, less than three
years ago, and he and Helen had recently become the parents of twin baby girls,
Charlotte and Caroline. Helen's mother, Grace, a widow, had moved in with them
to help with the babies, and the four of them discussed the invitation at
length. They finally decided that she should go. Charis thought it would be the
only way to stop Henry bothering her. She was still afraid of him but told
herself she was a big girl now and she had a return ticket. James suggested she
might want to arrange her flight to come home as soon as she arrived in Cairo,
which seemed like a good idea to Charis. She spent some time with Helen talking
about what kind of things she would need to take with her before she went home.
    Charis had been overjoyed when James and Helen got married. Helen
had been a top photographic model in her twenties. In her thirties she’d
started a model agency and had been very successful. In her forties she’d met
and married James. She was still stunning; tall, with beautiful auburn hair,
flawless skin and large hazel eyes. She’d begun a new career soon after she and
James were married, becoming a TV presenter with her own show called “Woman's
World”, a daily half hour live magazine show with guests and topics that were
of interest to women