‘Hardly ever. I write them a lot of letters, full of news, never telling them everything, and giving each of them something a little different. I know what worries them individually, you see. It keeps them happy.’ She looked around her. ‘Of course one day they’ll come over from Switzerland and see I’ve knocked together all the small rooms – you know: the laundry, the pantry, the room where the chinawas kept – and there’ll be hell to pay, but I’ll deal with that when it happens.’
She looked a little wistful, Lizzie thought.
‘Someone once told me it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission.’ Alexandra brightened up again. ‘In the meantime, it makes down here really cosy, don’t you think?’
‘Weren’t you worried that the ceiling might come down while you were bashing away at the walls?’ asked Meg.
Alexandra, who had finally got the gas to light under the kettle, flapped a hand. ‘Oh, it was all right. Some builder friends of David’s did it. They made sure it was safe.’
Alexandra was now opening and shutting cupboard doors looking for something. Finally she brought out a beautiful china teapot with a chipped spout. ‘I thought we should use the best china instead of the old tin teapot. Just this once.’
‘I really want to live here,’ said Lizzie. She’d spotted a sewing machine amid the clutter on the table up the other end of the room.
‘You haven’t seen the bedrooms yet,’ said Alexandra, apparently on the hunt for the rest of the tea service.
‘I’m sure the bedrooms are lovely,’ said Lizzie, thinking at least they’d be large.
‘And I don’t care about the bedrooms,’ said Meg. ‘I want to cook in this amazing kitchen. It’s sospacious! The one we’ve had – me and my mother – is fairly tiny. But can I take a quick peep at the garden? Make sure it’ll be OK for Clover?’
‘Go through that door at the end,’ said Alexandra, at last finding cups and saucers. ‘There’s a key on the shelf by the back door. Unlock it and you’ll see the garden. It’s just a bit of lawn with a tree in the middle really. The tea should be ready by the time you come back.’
Meg came back several minutes later, apparently satisfied that the garden would be suitable for Clover. ‘You could grow herbs, parsley, things like that there,’ she said. ‘My mother was brought up in the country and her mother grew all sorts of things. We’ve always had whatever we could fit into pots, wherever we’ve lived. Although with William, we planted things in his garden.’
‘Does Clover need much exercise?’ asked Alexandra, making tea now the kettle had finally boiled. ‘We do have a key for the square garden – communal, obviously, but they don’t let dogs in. Or unattended children. And they’re not allowed to play ball games. Not much fun at all, although I suppose the flowers are pretty.’
‘Do you go in it much?’ asked Lizzie, still fascinated by what seemed such a different sort of life.
‘In the summer, yes. I suspect one of the neighbours is a spy for my relations so I let her see me at least once a year, looking healthy. I make sure Ihave a friend to take with me. Not that I’ve got many friends, but David produces a nice young actress for me to wander round the paths with. Ah! Here he is!’
Lizzie found herself stiffening with nerves at the prospect of meeting the first man she knew to be homosexual. But when she saw him and realised he looked just like any other man, she relaxed again. He was older than they all were, possibly in his mid-thirties, and very handsome; he looked kind.
‘David!’ Alexandra went across to him and took his arm, leading him to the fireside. ‘This is Lizzie, who I said I was thinking of asking to come and live with us, and Meg wants to come too. There’s plenty of room.’
Meg smiled. ‘Only I’ve got a dog, so you may not want me as a flatmate.’ She paused. ‘Although this is hardly a flat.’
‘A dog? Where?’ David looked around expectantly.
‘I haven’t got her here now,’ said Meg, laughing. ‘Will you mind?’
‘Darling, I adore dogs! There’s nothing I’d like more than having one in the house. Can I take it for walks? What kind of dog is it?’
‘It’s a little spaniel,’ said Meg, obviously relaxing. ‘And of course you can take her for walks. I’m not sure where you’d take her though. We take her out on Wimbledon Common at the moment.’
‘There are a couple of small parks nearby and if you wouldn’t mind, I could pop her in the car and take her to one of the larger ones,’ said David.
‘She’d love that,’ said Meg.
After they’d all finished second cups of tea, Alexandra said, ‘Come and see upstairs.’
Through the faded hall and up the stairs they went. ‘Those rooms are closed off,’ said Alexandra when they were on ground level. ‘Follow me.’ On the first floor, Alexandra opened a door and ushered them into the drawing room. ‘It’s got double doors, so if there’s a really big party you can use the whole room.’
‘It seems quite big enough as it is,’ said Lizzie, awestruck by the high ceiling, the two floor-length windows that opened on to balconies and the magnificent marble fireplace.
‘I prefer this room,’ said Alexandra, opening the doors to the smaller room.
This room contained a dusty grand piano as well as a sofa and chairs. ‘David plays the piano sometimes, but he prefers the old upright one in the kitchen. It’s too cold to come up here in winter.’
It was fairly chilly now, in April, thought Lizzie.
