Rogue in Porcelain Read Online Free Page A

everyone before he makes a decision.’
    â€˜Perhaps, after consideration, he’ll decide against it. Has he spoken to your father?’
    Sam shrugged. ‘He didn’t say so. I’ll give Pa a buzz later and see if he’s heard anything.’
    Emma got to her feet. ‘And in the meantime, since there’s been no sound from upstairs, I’ll take in the dinner.’

Two
    A vril Parish came out of the library and stood for a minute on the steps, looking about her and breathing in the sharp spring air. The trees along the pavements were already greening, and in the library forecourt a tub of daffodils was in full bloom. This morning she’d managed to track down an elusive reference book for a grateful customer. A minor achievement, no doubt, but satisfying nonetheless, and a reminder of how much she enjoyed working at the library, which – another advantage – was within walking distance of home. This afternoon she’d a game of bridge to look forward to, and this evening she must phone her daughters to arrange for them to come to supper.
    Furthermore, the plumbers had actually arrived before she’d had to leave for work, and it seemed, after endless delays, that the shower room would soon be completed. The guestroom, on the other hand, should be finished today, and the curtains she’d ordered were promised by midweek. Everything was at last falling into place, and she felt an unaccustomed surge of well-being. Life, she thought in mild surprise, was, after all, good.
    She went slowly down the steps, still revelling in this unfamiliar joie de vivre. Once everything was straight again, she could start looking for a paying guest, she told herself, as she set off along the pavement. It would be wonderful when she’d no longer be the only one in the house, when she could expect someone home in the evenings. Even during those painful last weeks with Tom, she’d at least had someone to cook for, someone in the house with her. It was some small consolation that he too now lived alone, and hadn’t moved in with his lady-love. Avril doubted this had been for her benefit, but she was grateful nonetheless.
    Her thoughts returned to the proposed lodger; Lindsey had advised against trying for a couple, and Avril saw the sense in her reasoning. She’d therefore reverted to her original idea of a school teacher, for whom, situated as she was not far from Belmont Primary, she was ideally placed. She could only hope some new teachers were expected at the start of the summer term, and would be looking for accommodation. In which case, she thought suddenly, she’d be well advised to start advertising now, rather than wait till the house was in order. She’d draft the wording over lunch, then phone the Gazette before she went out. And it would do no harm to put notices in the post office and on the library board as well.
    Full of plans, Avril turned into Maple Drive, noting with relief the two vans still parked at her gate. The worst was behind her, she told herself on a wave of optimism. Though Tom’s leaving had left her shattered, it had also been a wake-up call. In the last few months she’d changed radically, in both appearance – at Lindsey’s instigation – and in attitude. The world was now her oyster, and she determined to make the most of it.
    Finlay Curzon leant back in his chair and reread the letter from the journalist. After a brief résumé of previous work, it set out how, with his permission, she hoped to research the history of the firm. It was clear, concise, and businesslike, and the signature, in bold black ink, had been written with a flourish: Rona Parish .
    Thinking back, Finn remembered meeting her parents at a party at his uncle’s, a year or so ago. They’d seemed an agreeable couple. Well, he was all for extra publicity, and if it was decreed she be made privy to Genesis, so be it. She could probably be trusted to