The Village Green Affair (30 page)
Read The Village Green Affair Online
Authors: Rebecca Shaw
Liz gasped. ‘So you
did
see me packing, just as you said in your letter.’ She shuddered at the thought. ‘Did you watch me from the landing?’
did
see me packing, just as you said in your letter.’ She shuddered at the thought. ‘Did you watch me from the landing?’
‘Well, yes, I did. I’d no idea anyone was in the house but then I heard you walking about upstairs and saw Titus sitting in the garden. You were a long while, he’d plenty of time.’
‘But you were there, you would have seen him come into the house.’
‘I left before you did. I’d only come to collect some clothes, like you. I watched you and thought what an idiot I’d been letting you slip through my fingers so easily. If I’d loved you properly you wouldn’t have wanted him. But I didn’t. So you found Titus. I’m so sorry, Liz.’ Neville reached out his hand and touched her arm so sympathetically that she felt a measure of distress for his predicament. Poor Neville.
Liz drew in a deep breath. ‘So it really is a proper burglary.’
‘Leave it with me, Liz. I’ll go higher up the chain and get something serious done about it. Have you time for a drink?’
At that moment Hugh and Guy came in. Once they’d greeted their mother with delighted surprise, Neville suggested they had a meal together. He nearly added ‘for old times’ sake’ but decided not to. ‘Here in the flat, or out in a restaurant. Mmm? What do you say?’
Hugh and Guy jumped at the chance to avoid cooking in the flat, so Neville found a jacket and the four of them went out to eat. Neville took them to the smart restaurant he’d found objectionable that night Liz had prised him so unwillingly out of the office. Liz didn’t comment on the fact but felt amazed at the change in him.
No one watching the four of them would have imagined for one moment that Neville and Liz were divorcing. They appeared to be having a pleasant family meal together, but beneath all the jollity they were all putting on a front to keep the atmosphere pleasant for the sake of the others. The boys were very aware that their father had changed and their mother was on a knife-edge.
When Neville decided to talk to the boys about the divorce, Liz almost shrivelled into a pathetic blob at the thought of him speaking out on such an intimate matter.
‘Your mother and I are very sorry that matters have reached the stage when we both want a divorce. What I don’t want is to have the two of you feeling distressed about it. We both want an amicable settling of our affairs and don’t want either of you to be harmed in any way. We’re selling Glebe House, but that doesn’t leave the two of you homeless, obviously, as you own the flat. I might ask for a few more weeks’ accommodation while I find a property, and then I shall set about making our business into the kind of company you are both willing to work in.’ Neville lowered his voice. ‘My mole will be getting the elbow, and I shall cut down on my property investments, so there will be no need to come into contact with him at all.’
Guy leaned closer to Neville and said quietly, ‘Kevin’s known to be vengeful, Dad, he’s very capable of a hatchet job.’ He sliced the air with the edge of his hand to emphasize his point. ‘He’s earned a lot out of you in the past, and he won’t take kindly to being elbowed out of the cut and thrust.’
‘Guy, Kevin may think he’s the sharpest knife in the box, but he’ll never get the better of
me
, I can assure you. He’s a very small pawn in the game.’
me
, I can assure you. He’s a very small pawn in the game.’
Liz recollected Kevin’s foxy slyness and, to her surprise, found herself worrying about Neville. But what was she doing here? Divorcing him? Or getting back together with him? ‘I’ve got to go,’ she said abruptly.
She pushed her chair away from the table with such decisiveness that it tipped over, making a terrible clatter on the tiled floor. With a flushed face she apologized, just as Neville got up and stood her chair back on its four legs. ‘Liz! Are you all right?’ The change in him was unnerving. She’d expected him to snarl because she’d drawn attention to them, but not tonight. She simply did not know this new Neville. Could he have changed so much in such a very short space of time? When he asked if she was well enough to drive home, Liz snapped, ‘Of course I am.’
‘Well, then, at least let me escort you to your car. This time of night, you know.’
‘There’s no need. Thank you for the nice meal, Neville. Bye, boys, I’ll be in touch.’
But he did go with her, taking her elbow as they walked through the almost deserted multi-storey levels of the car park. Liz had difficulty preventing herself from shuddering at his touch.
Neville muttered, ‘Never noticed what a grim place this is. It’s almost asking for a vicious gangland film to be made here, isn’t it?’ He turned to see her reaction to his flight of fancy, with a smile that almost reached his eyes.
‘You’re right there.’ Liz took in a deep breath and muttered, ‘It’s no good, you know, you’re not getting me back. Under no circumstances. You shot your bolt that night when . . . you . . . did what you did. There is actually a word for it but I can’t bear to use it. You were brutal, and you don’t know what an effort it was for me to have a meal with you, or even to have you holding my elbow as you are now.’
He let go of her immediately and his step faltered. When eventually he spoke his voice was barely audible above the sound of their footsteps on the concrete. ‘I didn’t imagine I would, no matter how hard I tried. I’ve done too much damage ... that night ... I can never apologize enough for my behaviour. But I’m trying harder to be a better person than I was. And I mean what I say about Kevin Smickersgill. I shall finish with him. I can’t ruin him, because after all, I’ve played a part in his crime so to speak, encouraged him in fact, so that wouldn’t do. Goodnight, Liz. Thanks for coming with us tonight. Guy and Hugh will have reason to be proud of me ... and you will be proud, too. It matters, you know. Goodnight Liz.’ She felt his lips tremble as he landed a brief kiss on her cheek. Then she opened her car door, got in and drove away.
When she arrived back at her flat, Titus had left a message on her answerphone which she knew would restore calm to her swirling thoughts.
Of course she wasn’t going back to Neville. The very idea made goosebumps come out all over. She checked her e-mails and found just one. It was from Titus.
Chapter 16
Darling Liz,
You’re out. I wonder where? Bad news, I’m afraid. My friend who is loaning you his flat is coming home to England. He has had an emergency operation in Uganda after a serious car accident and is returning by air for further intricate surgery in England. His mother is intending to live with him in his flat to help him. He will require it on Friday. So sorry, darling. I had hoped you were safe for a good while yet. Of course you know there will always be a home for you Chez Titus if that is what you wish. Ring me when you get this message and we’ll see what is the best for you to do.
Your Titus.
Liz sat staring at the e-mail for a good five minutes before she rang Titus. Somehow everyone she used to rely on had gone out of kilter. Neville at his worst she knew how to deal with; the new Neville she didn’t. Now she was becoming suspicious of Titus. Was this just a ruse to get her to live with him? No, that wasn’t like Titus at all. Of course not.
She dialled his number.
His first words reassured her. ‘Firstly, Liz, you must understand I am not expecting nor am I asking you to come to live with me. I know you’re not ready for that . . . unless it is your dearest wish, that is.’
‘Thank you. You see, I need to rid myself of one life before I take up with another. Can you appreciate that?’
‘Of course I can.’
‘When you called I was having a meal in a restaurant with Hugh and Guy and . . . Neville. I went to the boys’ flat to see Neville and challenge him.’ She heard Titus gasp. ‘I know you think I was stupid, but I was so wild I had to confront him. I asked him straight out and he said it wasn’t him that took the jewellery. I believe him. Titus, where shall I go? I feel abandoned.’
‘Liz, Liz, you’re not abandoned, I’m here for you.’
‘Thank you. Yes, I know you are. I won’t make a decision right this minute. I shall be strong and brave in the morning, which I’m not now, as I’ve been through too much tonight. Just too much. Goodnight, Titus.’
But Liz slept in the next morning, and only arrived in Turnham Malpas for the nursery in the nick of time. She hated starting the day on the wrong foot. She felt that it put her out all the rest of the day and now, because of her bad start, she still hadn’t decided what to do.
She needed some groceries so she called in at the Village Store after nursery. Only Tom and Bel were working, but she had a chat with them both and then selected her shopping.
She carried her purchases to her car and found Neville standing beside it waiting. The sight of him jolted her and she wished she could run away, but she marched on regardless. ‘Are you stalking me?’
‘No. How are you, Liz? Thank you for eating with us last night. It was a pleasure.’
‘What is it now, Neville?’
Liz looked more closely at him. How casually he was dressed: no tie, a short-sleeved shirt, shorts.
Shorts
? Heavens above. He was almost unrecognizable.
Shorts
? Heavens above. He was almost unrecognizable.
‘I’ve come to find you to say that if you need somewhere to live, then I would be pleased if you would live in Glebe House, temporarily, until we find a buyer. Just a thought, you know.’
His idea exploded in her head. ‘Oh, no! You’d be there like a shot and I’m not having it. No, definitely not. You’ve no rights to me at all, not after what you did.’
‘I wouldn’t. Believe me. It works two ways, you see. It would mean there’d be someone living there when we were trying to sell it - which we shall, of course, it’s very desirable - and you would have a nice home in the meanwhile. I’d pay all the expenses - cleaner, gardener, utilities. You can move in tomorrow.’
It was extremely tempting. Her own surroundings, not another session of adapting to an unfamiliar place, near the nursery, near her friends. ‘Yes, but . . .’
‘Well, yes, there is a but . . . I will not tolerate Titus Bellamy living there. In fact, it’s on condition that he doesn’t set foot in the place.’
‘And neither will you?’
Neville nodded. ‘Neither will I.’
‘I’ll let you know tonight. I still have the new key so that’s no problem. On your honour you won’t harass me? I mean it, Neville, you’re not to come anywhere near me.’
‘I won’t. But it has its advantages you living there, hasn’t it?’
‘Just go, otherwise people will begin to think we’re getting together again, and nothing could be further from the truth.’ Having stored her shopping in the boot, Liz opened the driver’s door. Then the thought hit her like a missile. ‘How the blazes do you know I need somewhere to live?’ She turned round to see his reaction and found him so close their bodies were almost touching. Liz leaped back. ‘Well?’
Neville spread his hands to indicate his innocence. ‘I just thought there was no need for you to be paying rent for that flat, when you can live rent-free in your own home.’
‘It doesn’t feel like my home. It’s always been yours. You might
say
you built it and furnished it as a tribute to me, but it was actually a tribute to you, and don’t deny it. I was daft enough to fall for it.’
say
you built it and furnished it as a tribute to me, but it was actually a tribute to you, and don’t deny it. I was daft enough to fall for it.’
Neville did have the grace to look suitably humbled, although the unaccustomed look didn’t improve him in her eyes.
‘However, I’ll move in if I decide to without reference to you. After all, as you say, it is
my
house, too.’ Liz got in the car, remembered something else she needed to say so wound down the window. ‘I wouldn’t sleep in our bed. Too many . . . ghosts. Too much . . . horror.’
my
house, too.’ Liz got in the car, remembered something else she needed to say so wound down the window. ‘I wouldn’t sleep in our bed. Too many . . . ghosts. Too much . . . horror.’
As she drove back into Culworth Liz was overcome by a terrible feeling of being strangled, or smothered or some such. She became short of breath, and it seemed as though there was a heavy weight pressing down on her head. She pulled in to give herself time to recover but it didn’t work, so she drove the rest of the way concentrating 150 per cent on her driving, because she was terrified she might have an accident through lack of concentration.
Once inside the flat she poured herself a glass of brandy for medicinal purposes and lay down on the bed afterwards trying desperately to relax. After about half an hour she fell fast asleep and didn’t wake for four hours.
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