Next Door to Romance by Margaret Malcolm Page B

whole thing, and we simply can't afford to do that. Look at the condition the surplices are in, to say nothing of the repairs to the kneelers. Then we really ought to try to do at least something about the heating system—'
    'It could hardly have happened at a more inconvenient time,' the wife of the local chemist sighed gustily. 'Not, of course, that I mean for one moment that Mr Medway died
purposely
just four days before the Fete, only—' she stopped, feeling that what she had been about to say was not, perhaps, just the thing to mention in front of the Rector's wife.
    Mrs Thacker, however, was too experienced in village ways to bother very much when a rather silly little woman like Doris Trot was a little too outspoken.
    'Yes, very inconvenient,' she agreed briskly. 'All the same, we can hardly expect the Medways to want their privacy intruded upon at such a time, and apart from Bardley Manor, there's no other house for miles with a big garden and a paddock sufficiently large to take all the marquees and side-shows we've planned. So I propose that I should write to Mr Cosgrave and thank him for coming to our rescue—'
    'I second that,' Mrs Bellairs said quietly. She had her own reasons for wanting to visit Bardley Manor. Odd little bits of gossip had come her way lately, and though she had taken them with a grain of salt, it did seem possible that some of them might be true.
    'Well, there doesn't seem to be anything else for it,' Mrs Trot admitted unwillingly. 'But I must say, I think it's a pity. After all, we don't know a thing about them, and once we've accepted a favour from them, they're
in
, if you see what I mean. And there's nothing one can do about it then.'
    Lisa, co-opted on to the committee as a representative of the younger members of the community, jumped to her feet.
    'I think it's very unfair and extremely foolish to condemn people just because they're newcomers,' she announced hotly. 'After all, though to all of us the Webbers were the family at the Manor, there was a time when they were strangers to the district. I expect people used to resent them taking the place of the— the—'
    'The Rattrays,' Mrs Thacker supplied quietly. 'Yes, I expect you're quite right, Lisa! We are very slow to make friends, we country people. In some ways it's a good thing, because real friendship must develop slowly so that it can be based on real knowledge. But then how can we acquire that knowledge without taking some risk? And we must remember, Mr and Mrs Cosgrave have taken a risk—oh yes, they have, Mrs Trot! Because, you know, we have so many affairs locally when the use of the Manor would be extremely useful-and they may find that we are just rather too demanding. Yet, despite that fact, of which they are probably well aware, they have come to our rescue in this predicament, haven't they? So, if no one can suggest an alternative plan—' she glanced round her ladies, who murmured their agreement.
    Half an hour later Mrs Thacker's visitors left, with the exception of Mrs Bellairs. The two of them were friends of long standing and usually indulged in a little family gossip after any committee on which they both served. Now, over a freshly brewed pot of tea, Mrs Bellairs learned that George Thacker had recently had a promotion which would mean he could live nearer home.
    'Though not, thank goodness, sufficiently near actually to live with us,' Mrs Thacker said fervently as she poured out the tea. 'That would never do. George has got his own life to live, and in a Rectory, you know, one has to live the Rector's life! I mean, everything has to come second to the requirements of his office and work. Oh, it's quite right, of course. It ought not to be any other way. But young people—' she shook her head. 'No, they must be free to make their own decisions and stand by the result of them!'
    'You do see things so clearly, Alice,' Mrs Bellairs said with a sigh. 'I have plenty of ideas, you know, but I'm never sure whether