(9/13)The School at Thrush Green by Miss Read Page B

fear,' replied Dorothy. 'Except that the particulars from Better and Better have been more plentiful with spring on the way, and rather more realistic.'
    'Dorothy wrote to them,' explained Agnes, 'about how silly it was to send us details of top floor flats or bits of castles. Such a waste of everyone's time.'
    'Well, we've all been through it,' said Isobel. 'Harold always says that after forty-three viewings he simply settled for forty-four, which was this one, because he had cracked completely.'
    'You were let off comparatively lightly,' Harold reminded her. 'Only a dozen or so, and then I persuaded her to marry me. I still don't know if I or the house was the real attraction.'
    'Fifty-fifty,' his wife told him, with a smile.
    'Well, we don't know any nice single men in Barton,' said Dorothy. 'And certainly not one who would offer us marriage. I think we shall simply have to rely on Better and Better.'
    'I'm looking forward to visiting you there when you've settled in,' said Isobel. 'I visited it on a couple of occasions when I took my neighbour in Sussex to visit her aunt there. It was an awkward cross-country journey by train, so I ran her across. We had a splendid picnic on the way, I remember, which she insisted on preparing. Asparagus, strawberries and cream! Delicious!'
    'Why don't we have grand picnics like that?' queried Harold.
    'Because you prefer thick ham sandwiches, or a ploughman's in a pub,' said Isobel.
    She rose and beckoned to the ladies. 'Now come and have a proper look at the garden. Harold's done wonders.'

    And the party moved out to enjoy the last of that day's spring sunshine.

    On the following Wednesday, Ada, Bertha and Violet Lovelock walked to The Fuchsia Bush. Nelly Piggott herself placed their lunch before the Misses Lovelock.
    Miss Ada had ordered fillet of plaice, Miss Bertha lasagne and Miss Violet braised beef. As the youngest of the three sisters, she was well aware that she would have to face some criticism when she returned home. Braised beef was more expensive than plaice or lasagne. Miss Violet was content to face her sisters' strictures later. In any case, she was not only used to them, but would be fortified by good red meat.
    'There you are then,' said Nelly encouragingly, 'and I hope you enjoy it.'
    The ladies inclined their heads.
    'Not got suited yet, I suppose?' went on Nelly.
    'I'm afraid not,' murmured Ada.
    'Marvellous, innit? All this unemployment they keep on about, and yet no one wants a day's work.'
    'Quite,' said Bertha.
    'Could we have some mustard?' asked Violet. 'English, please.'
    'Well, I won't forget to look out for someone,' said Nelly, as she departed in search of home-produced mustard. 'But it'll be an uphill job, I warn you.'
    Through the window of The Fuchsia Bush the life of Lulling High Street pursued its peaceful way. Young Mr Venables, retired solicitor of Lulling, and now in his seventies, was chatting to an equally venerable gentleman beneath the pollarded lime tree immediately outside the restaurant. Several dogs were trotting about on their daily affairs, and young mothers were gossiping over their prams.
    On the other side of the road, the greengrocer had put out some boxes of early annuals on the pavement below the rich display of apples, oranges, forced rhubarb and melons.
    Velvety pansies, glowing dwarf marigolds and multi-coloured polyanthus plants all tempted the passers-by, particularly those gardening optimists who were dying to get down to some positive work after the months of winter idleness.
    Among them was Ella Bembridge, close friend of Dimity, Charles Henstock's wife, and an old friend of the Lovelock sisters.
    She was stooping over the boxes, her tweed skirt immodestly high, and a plume of blue smoke from one of her untidy cigarettes wreathing above her head.
    Violet, who was facing the window, noticed her first, and wondered idly if their old friend would also be lunching at The Fuchsia Bush.
    She did not wonder for long. Ella