The Lily-White Boys by Anthea Fraser Page B

gallery in Carlton Road.
    â€˜No problems, are there?’
    â€˜Not as long as someone turns up. We’ve had hardly any replies so far.’
    â€˜Everyone leaves it to the last minute.’
    â€˜That’s all very well, but how many do we cater for? We’re laying on canapés and wine, you know.’
    â€˜Just order the same as last time. I’ve mentioned it to several people – I’m sure there’ll be a respectable number.’
    He gave a short laugh. ‘I’m even wondering if Mrs Jones posted the invitations – she’s missed things before. With working only part-time, it seems as if only half her mind’s on the job.’
    â€˜Get rid of her, then,’ Claudia said.
    â€˜Oh, she’s all right really. I’m just being paranoid.’
    They lay in silence for a while, busy with their own thoughts. He’d not asked what was keeping her awake, but if he had, she could not have told him. Ever since Abbie’s casual remark, she’d tormented herself with the thought that he might still be attracted to Eloise. To her shame, she’d even set little traps for him, hidden, innocent-seeming pitfalls that, whether intentionally or not, he’d adroitly managed to dodge.
    Still watching him as he lay staring at the ceiling, she consciously stripped away the intimacy of twenty-odd years, looking at him as she would a stranger. And what she saw disconcerted her: a man no longer young, tense – how long had that pulse beat at his temple? – disillusioned, perhaps, since there were shadows on his face that familiarity had hidden from her. His hair was greyer than she’d realized, and his jawline slacker. She said softly, ‘Oh, Harry!’
    â€˜Um?’ He turned to her, and her focus shifted, returning him to her as the man she had married.
    â€˜You look worn out,’ she said.
    â€˜Well, things have been fairly hectic, as you know. The price of success, my love.’
    â€˜Then perhaps the price is too high. Is it getting too much for you? You spend more and more time at the Gallery –’ Or was he in fact seeing Eloise? She hurried on: ‘Why not leave it to Tony for a few months and we can take a long cruise or something. It would do us both good to get away.’ Away from Eloise.
    â€˜Claudia, for God’s sake! I mention we haven’t had many replies for the Private View, and the next thing you have me throwing up the Gallery and careering off on a world cruise! What’s got into you?’
    â€˜You looked so tired, darling. I suddenly panicked.’
    â€˜Well, there’s no need to. That Gallery’s my baby and I’m not handing it over to anyone. Anyway, there’s no hassle; Tony looks after the everyday running of the place. I just have the fun part, buying, borrowing, showing.’ And the financial responsibility, she thought.
    She turned off the light and leant over to kiss him. ‘All right, Mr Tycoon, just as long as you can switch off when you come home and let your wife get some sleep!’
    â€˜I’ll do my best.’
    She turned on her side, tucking the duvet under her chin. As she was dropping off to sleep, she murmured drowsily, ‘But we can go on a cruise sometime, can’t we?’
    There was no reply.

CHAPTER 6
    Webb said reflectively, ‘The Whites were window-cleaners, you know.’
    Crombie didn’t look up. ‘So?’
    â€˜I was just wondering if they might have seen something they shouldn’t have.’
    â€˜â€œWhile cleanin’ winders?”’ Crombie asked with a grin.
    â€˜Could be. We’ll have to see all their customers. Come to that, they could have found something incriminating at the house they burgled.’
    â€˜And tried blackmail?’
    â€˜It’s well within their province. Pike tried to phone the owners last night about the recovery of their goods, but there was no reply. Rather than ring