‘You can see why we live in the basement,’ said Alexandra.
‘Would you mind if Clover slept with me?’ asked Meg. ‘She’s used to living in a flat and I’m not sureI’d like to think of her all the way down in the basement if I was up here.’
Alexandra nodded. ‘And you’ll be up a level, on the second floor. Come and see the bedrooms. I don’t mind where Clover sleeps.’
‘David’s in the nursery, at the top, which has its own bathroom, complete with a frieze of little ducklings,’ said Alexandra, opening the door to a vast bedroom. ‘I’m in this one at the front. There’s another next door, and a small bedroom at the back. The bathroom’s in here.’ They went into a bathroom revealing a large bath with ball and claw feet and a lot of complicated-looking brass pipes indicating some sort of shower arrangement.
‘Let’s have a look at where we’d sleep,’ said Meg.
‘I’d like to say I was leaving the best until last,’ said Alexandra, ‘but I’m not, really. Here: it’s next to mine.’
The bedroom Alexandra showed them was very large but the once pretty floral wallpaper was falling off and there was a damp patch on the ceiling. There were two single beds, a dressing table and cupboards, one of which revealed a washbasin.
‘We could share this,’ said Lizzie. ‘It’s massive!’
‘But what about Clover?’ asked Meg diffidently. ‘How would you feel about sharing a room with a dog?’
‘Does she howl in the night or anything?’ Lizzie asked.
‘No, she just sleeps on my bed and snores,’ said Meg. ‘Although that can get quite loud.’
‘I’m sure I won’t mind,’ said Lizzie. When she used to go and spend the night with her friend, she always liked hearing someone else breathing in the dark nearby. She was slightly prone to having nightmares and liked the thought of having company, at least until she’d got used to living in this slightly spooky house.
‘How much is the rent?’ she asked, hoping she could afford it.
‘Yes,’ said Meg. ‘We need to know. I probably can’t afford what it’s worth.’
Alexandra’s face screwed up in a way that indicated she’d thought about this but hadn’t reached a conclusion. ‘Well, to be honest, as I never anticipated renting rooms, I expect it would be fine if we all chipped in for housekeeping. I don’t see myself as a landlady, all enormous bosom and wrap-over pinny.’
‘We’ve got to pay you!’ said Lizzie. ‘Otherwise we’d just be scroungers.’ Her father had very strong opinions about scroungers and while Lizzie rejected a lot of what her father thought, the bit about people who expected to get something for nothing had rubbed off on her.
‘OK,’ said Alexandra, and named a ridiculously small amount. ‘And we’ll all pitch in for food and household bills, how about that?’
‘And would you mind if we decorated this room a little bit?’ asked Meg. ‘Stuck the wallpaper back on?’
‘Not at all! Help yourselves. Actually, I think there’s wallpaper in the attic we could use,’ said Alexandra, seemingly enthusiastic about this plan.
‘What about bedding?’ asked Lizzie. ‘Sheets, blankets, eiderdowns, pillows?’
‘There’s a huge airing cupboard full of it. Don’t worry. It’s all going to be enormous fun! Let’s go downstairs and make toast.’
When they’d gone back down and had more tea – in mugs this time – and eaten toast, Lizzie got up. ‘I ought to go and tell Gina I’ve got a lovely place to live.’ She paused. ‘My mother will be delighted too. I mean, she’ll be worried about me leaving Gina, but when I tell her I’m living in Belgravia …’ She looked at Alexandra. ‘Will I be? Living in Belgravia? Pimlico seems a bit racy, somehow.’
Alexandra shrugged non-committally. ‘I’m not absolutely sure. I think so.’
‘I’ll tell her I am,’ said Lizzie. ‘She won’t know one way or the other.’ She frowned. ‘I’d better go and see my parents, I suppose. They’ll have a fit when they see my hair.’ She ruffled it thoughtfully.
‘And I’m worried about how I’m going to get Clover up here,’ said Meg. ‘She’s never been on the Tube or a bus or anything.’
David, who’d been chopping something in the kitchen end of the room, looked up. ‘Why don’t Igo down in the car and pick you both up? You live in Wimbledon at the moment, don’t you?’
Meg turned to him. ‘Yes! And that would be wonderful! Could you really do that?’
David smiled and nodded. ‘It’s not that far, you know. And I could bring your things as well.’ He frowned. ‘Would your mother be all right about that? You being picked up by a strange man?’
Meg laughed. ‘If it means Clover has a good home, my mother wouldn’t mind who I ran off with!’
‘It’ll have to be on Friday though,’ David went on. ‘I’m doing Portobello – that’s the market – on Saturday.’
