Grace Hardie Read Online Free Page B

notebook. He looked up for a moment, indicating that he would like to make one point clear before considering the matter further.
    â€˜It’s my preference, wherever possible, to use whatever building material is locally available,’ he said. ‘In this case it would be the grey stone from Headington Quarry. The choice of material, of course, affects the nature of the design.’
    â€˜Agreed!’ Gordon was a businessman, accustomed to taking prompt decisions. ‘I’ll put a point to you in return. Money. I’ll tell you the situation straight, Mr Faraday, and then you must decide whether it suits you. I don’t want you coming to me in a year’s time and saying that you thought this and you didn’t realize that. I like people to know where they stand – and where I stand.’
    He paused; and the architect nodded his head to indicate that he was waiting.
    â€˜I’ve got a fixed sum available for this enterprise,’ Gordon continued. ‘Twenty-six thousand pounds. Quite enough for a fine house, with the land already purchased.If you undertake the commission, the whole sum will be at your disposal. But not a penny more than that. Everything’s to come out of the twenty-six thousand – clearing the land and landscaping and planting it; building the house and decorating it; your own fees, and the cost of putting right all the things that go wrong. I’ve had good reports of you as someone who works to an estimate. But this may be larger than anything you’ve set your hand to before. If you think you can’t handle it, this is the time to say so. And if you know for a fact that every new house costs ten per cent more than its owner expected, then allow for that before you start.’
    Mr Faraday looked first at Midge and then at his client. ‘When a house turns out to cost more than the owner intended or the architect promised,’ he said, ‘it’s always for the same reason. Because the owner has had a change of mind.’
    â€˜There’s a second half to that reason, I’ll be bound. The owner changes his mind and the architect doesn’t warn him that the changes will be expensive. I know as well as you do, Faraday, that it’s the easiest thing in the world to sell a gentleman something he can’t afford, because he doesn’t choose to enquire the price – and even if he did, he wouldn’t know or care whether he has the money to hand. But you and I, who are in the business of knowing the costs of other people’s whims, must understand each other from the beginning.’
    For a few seconds, in the silence as the two men stared at each other, Midge held her breath. It was none of her business, but she felt an intense wish for Mr Faraday to accept the commission. He was a stranger, and yet she felt in him an unusual quality of sympathy. Not in the sense of compassion, but of understanding. If he agreed to design the house he would in some way, she felt sure, make himself a part of the family, realizing what was needed andlooking at his own plans from inside rather than outside. It was not a notion which she felt able to express clearly in words – but Mr Faraday himself came near to doing it for her.
    â€˜I would be glad of the opportunity to meet the other members of your family, Mr Hardie,’ he said. ‘The little girl whose health is to be considered. And in particular, of course, I ought to discuss the needs of the household with your wife. To learn the number of servants she expects to employ, the rooms she requires for special purposes.’
    Midge was tempted to clap her hands in delight at the request. It hardly seemed conceivable that Gordon had proposed to commission a house – to be paid for with money from his wife’s family – without inviting Lucy to discuss her requirements in detail. Yet the startled expression on his face suggested that he had expected all the decisions