LITMIR.BIZ

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one end ordered, graceful and refined, the other a mismatch of passageways, thick walls and sudden open spaces. And the view was spectacular. To one side of the house the lawn led away towards a ha-ha, and then beyond lay a snaking valley, banked on either side by a sylvan curtain of lush green trees. Overlooking the whole scene, imperious in its splendour, stood the obelisk, testament to an eighteenth-century landowner’s vivid imagination and excessive wealth.

      Much to Harry’s relief, Charles wasn’t around.

      ‘So sorry, Julia, but he’s huffing about sorting out a problem with the wild boar,’ explained Stella with a roll of her eyes. Slim, tall, but rather plain, Harry thought she seemed friendly enough. Dominic, effectively an only child and clearly used to getting his own way, marched up to Harry and said, ‘Who are you?’ in an indignant tone of voice.

      ‘He’s Harry, a friend of Julia’s darling.’

      ‘Do you want to marry her?’ he asked.

      ‘Dominic! Really, that’s not polite,’ scolded Stella.

      Harry, feeling himself pinking, looked at Julia and Stella and, laughing feebly, said, ‘Well now, that would be telling, wouldn’t it? Ha, ha.’ He knew he sounded faintly avuncular, as though he should be handing out a shiny sixpence and then cuffing Dominic gently around the ear.

      ‘Well, do you want to see my train set?’ Dominic asked next. ‘I bet it’s bigger than any you’ve ever had.’

      ‘And there you’d be right,’ said Harry, ‘as I’ve never had a train set.’

      ‘Honestly, Dominic, you really shouldn’t say things like that. It’s rude to brag,’ Stella told him, dropping to her knees and looking him square in the face.

      Dominic shrugged and turned back to Harry. ‘Do you want to see it though?’ he persisted.

      ‘Not now, OK?’ said Julia testily. ‘Later maybe. Poor Harry’s only just got here.’

      Dominic grinned inanely, twisted round on his toes and then ran out of the hall.

      ‘I’m going to show Harry his room and take him for a tour if that’s OK,’ Julia told Stella.

      ‘Sure, be my guest. We’re having supper at eight but I think your father will be back much before then.’

      ‘I am your guest,’ muttered Julia once Stella had headed back towards the kitchen.

      Harry was put in his own room in the abbey part, dominated by a huge four-poster. Unlatching the leaded window, he peered out and above him saw a weather-beaten gargoyle, its mouth a conduit for the guttering that led towards it.

      ‘You like?’ asked Julia.

      ‘Very,’ grinned Harry, ‘it’s amazing.’

      Her tour led all round the house and then out to the garden. It was a warm day, although there was a cooling breeze. Large white cumuli spattered the deep blue sky. The lawns had just been cut and grass clippings scented the air. Wood pigeons cooed from the trees, their low, soothing song floating out across the gardens. As they paused at a bench by the rose beds, Harry closed his eyes and felt the sun on his lids, his head warm on Julia’s lap.

      ‘Ah, this is the life,’ he sighed. ‘What a place.’

      ‘It’s certainly peaceful at the moment,’ agreed Julia. She was thoughtful a moment, then said, ‘I hope I can live here one day, and not that brat Dominic.’

      ‘What about your brothers?’ asked Harry. Mark, four years younger than Julia, had dropped out and was travelling somewhere in South America, while Toby, still only eighteen, was in his last year at school.

      ‘I don’t think Mark would want it. One of the reasons he’s buggered off is to escape our family. And Toby is in line to inherit my uncle’s place in Yorkshire. But he might drop out too, I suppose.’

      ‘I thought you had high hopes for him?’ Harry queried.

      ‘No, you’re right. I’m sure he’ll be fine. He’s not as sensitive as Mark. More like Daddy.’

      They walked on, over the ha-ha and then skirted round the valley, until eventually they reached the obelisk. Despite the moss and lichen at its square base, the column looked strong and solid, proudly extending some seventy feet into the air.

      ‘What a wonderful spot,’ said Harry, taking in the view. ‘I bet you can see this for miles and miles around.’

      ‘You can. It’s rather fun, isn’t it?’

      From their vantage point, they looked towards the house, its full scale and layout clearly mapped out. They spied a Range Rover pull into the drive and then stop in front of the main entrance.

      ‘That’s Daddy back,’ said Julia dismissively. Harry regretted Charles’s return. Somehow it spoiled everything. They’d been quite content, just the two of them, ambling round the garden and fields surrounding the house. It had been so effortless, but Harry feared being with Charles would be an enormous test of good behaviour and concentration. If Julia was scared of him – and she hadn’t got to where she was by being intimidated – her father was bound to be a handful.

      ‘Harry?’ said Julia at length.

      ‘Hmm?’

      ‘Do you ever wonder whether you’ll get married?’

      ‘I’ve never really thought about it,’ lied Harry.

      ‘I hope I do,’ continued Julia, ‘and have children … but I don’t think I could bear getting divorced. I’d have to marry someone who was really going to look after me, you know?’

      Harry smiled weakly. Just where was this heading? There was another pause, then Julia said, ‘I mean, do you think we’ve got a future together? Have we got what it takes?’

      Harry didn’t want this conversation. He desperately wanted to be falling madly in love with Julia, and hoped it might still happen, but he didn’t feel that way yet. Julia and he had been having fun though, and although he had recognized the significance of meeting her father at the old family home, he liked the way things were progressing slowly. He didn’t want to be rushed or pushed into a corner in any way.

      ‘Harry?’ persisted Julia.

      ‘I don’t know, Julia,’ he told her, ‘I hope so. Don’t tempt fate yet though, hey?’

      She smiled at him, revealing a vulnerability he’d never noticed before. The sun lit up one side of her face and blonde wisps gently blew across her cheek. Without her normal armament of eye and lip make-up, she looked softer, more naturally beautiful.

      ‘I think I’ve fallen in love with you,’ she told him. Then she looked away, as though embarrassed by her confession.

      Harry’s mind raced. What should he say back? What she wanted to hear, or what he really felt? Sitting by her at that moment, with her looking as lovely as she did; he felt he should be in love with her too. But could he say it and really mean it?

      Suddenly their relationship, previously so easy and relaxed, had taken on a whole new meaning. Julia, without consulting Harry, was moving them on a stage, and he felt panicked.

      ‘I love you too,’ he said.

      She smiled, then laughed bashfully, and Harry could see her eyes glistening. Shit, shit, shit! he thought. It was all wrong – he was being forced into a situation he didn’t want.

      ‘I’ve never said that to anyone before,’ she told him, kissing him and then standing up.

      ‘Oh, I used to all the time when I was younger,’ said Harry, as cheerfully as he could, ‘but I never meant it.’

      ‘But you do now?’ said Julia playfully.

      ‘Of course,’ Harry replied as they headed back to the house, conscious he’d lied twice in as many minutes.

      

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