Frost Fair by Edward Marston

tell me that you must keep an open mind but it's shut tight against sympathy or reason. You pay no attention at all to me.'
        'I do, I promise you.'
        'I see precious little sign of it.'
        'There are some decisions I can only make on my own.' He gave a smile. 'Did your parents really say that it was wrong and foolish of you to become my wife?' 'They thought it would never last.'
        'We proved them wrong.'
        'In some ways,' she conceded. 'Prove me wrong, Jonathan.'
        'You?'
        'Show me that you're not the fair-weather friend that you seem.'
        'Now, that's unjust!' he protested.
        'Is it?'
        'Yes.'
        'Mr Redmayne is waiting for you.'
        "Then he must wait in vain.'
        'Why is that?' she challenged. 'Are you going to let him down?'
        When she plied her needle again, Jonathan felt as if it were piercing his brain.
        
        
         Susan Cheever had always liked her brother-in-law. Lancelot Serle was a willing, affable, tolerant man who was passably handsome and never less than impeccably dressed. He had none of the arrogance that wealth often brings and he was endlessly obliging. Ordinarily, Susan would have been pleased to see him again but circumstances militated against her. Serle had come to take her away from the city and put distance between her and Christopher Redmayne. It made her fretful. She gave her brother-in-law only a muted welcome. Sir Julius Cheever did not even bother with a greeting.
        'Where, in God's name, have you been?' he demanded.
        'We were delayed, Sir Julius,' replied Serle with a shrug of apology.
        'I can see that, man. I wanted you here by mid-morning and it is well past noon. Are there no clocks in Richmond? Or have you lost the ability to tell the time?'
        'We reached London hours ago but we were held up on the bridge. Every cart, carriage and coach in England seem to have congregated there. It took an age to battle our way through. That's the beauty of living in the country,' he said, turning to Susan. 'We have the freedom to move at will.'
        'I was hoping to enjoy that freedom myself,' said Sir Julius testily, 'but you've kept me cooling my heels in Westminster.'
        'Not deliberately, Sir Julius.'
        'You should have set out earlier.'
        'Nobody could have foretold that amount of traffic.'
        'London Bridge is always an ordeal to cross.'
        'Except when the river freezes over,' observed Serle with an almost childlike smile. 'The ice is breaking up now or we could have ridden across the Thames itself. What an adventure that would have been! I'm so sorry that we missed the frost fair but Brilliana refused to stir from the house during the cold spell.' His smile broadened into a polite grin. 'Brilliana sends her love, by the way.'
        'I'd have been more grateful if she could have sent a punctual husband.'
        'I did not mean to hold you up, Sir Julius.'
        'You never mean any of the idiocies that you commit.'
        'Do not be so choleric, Father,' said Susan, trying to save their visitor from further abuse. 'Lancelot has made the effort to get here and you have not even had the grace to offer him refreshment.'
        Sir Julius was dismissive. 'He does not deserve any.'
        'Forgive him, Lancelot,' she said. 'Father is so eager to be on the road that he has forgotten his manners. I'm sure that you'd like refreshment after your journey and the horses will appreciate a rest.' She turned to Sir Julius. 'Carry on, if you must. There's nothing to detain you now.'
        Sir Julius hovered. The three of them were standing in the hall of the house in Westminster. Milder weather had banished the icicles under the windowsills and the hoar frost on the garden. Winter sunshine was chasing away the last few deposits of snow. It was only Sir Julius who seemed impervious to the thaw. He regarded his son- in-law with