Behind Closed Doors. B A Paris

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СКАЧАТЬ I looked down at the solitaire diamond. ‘Jack, it’s beautiful!’

      ‘I’m glad you like it. So, how about sometime in March?’

      I burst out laughing. ‘March! How will we be able to organise a wedding in such a short time?’

      ‘It won’t be that difficult. I already have somewhere in mind for the reception, Cranleigh Park in Hecclescombe. It’s a private country house and belongs to a friend of mine. Normally, he only holds wedding receptions for family members but I know it won’t be a problem.’

      ‘It sounds wonderful,’ I said happily.

      ‘As long as you don’t want to invite too many people.’

      ‘No, just my parents and a few friends.’

      ‘That’s settled then.’

      Later, as he drove me back home, he asked if we could have a drink together the following evening as there were a couple of things he wanted to discuss with me before I left for Argentina on Wednesday.

      ‘You could come in now, if you like,’ I offered.

      ‘I’m afraid I really need to be getting back. I have an early start tomorrow.’ I couldn’t help feeling disappointed. ‘I’d like nothing more than to come in and stay the night with you,’ he said, noticing, ‘but I have some files I need to look over tonight.’

      ‘I can’t believe I’ve agreed to marry someone I haven’t even slept with yet,’ I grumbled.

      ‘Then how about we go away for a couple of days, the weekend after you get back from Argentina? We’ll take Millie out to lunch and after we’ve dropped her back at school, we’ll visit Cranleigh Park and find a hotel somewhere in the country for the night. Would that do?’

      ‘Yes.’ I nodded gratefully. ‘Where shall I meet you tomorrow evening?’

      ‘How about the bar at the Connaught?’

      ‘If I come straight from work, I can be there around seven.’

      ‘Perfect.’

      I spent most of the next day wondering what Jack wanted to discuss with me before I went to Argentina. It never occurred to me that he would ask me to give up my job or that he would want to move out of London. I had presumed that once we were married we would carry on much as we were, except that we would be living together in his flat, as it was more central. His propositions left me reeling. Seeing how shocked I was, he sought to explain, pointing out what had occurred to me the day before, that in the three months since we’d known each other, we’d hardly spent any time together.

      ‘What’s the point of getting married if we never see each other?’ he asked. ‘We can’t go on as we are and, more to the point, I don’t want to. Something has to give and as I hope we’ll be having children sooner rather than later …’ He stopped. ‘You do want children, don’t you?’

      ‘Yes, Jack, of course I do,’ I smiled.

      ‘That’s a relief.’ He took my hand in his. ‘The first time I saw you with Millie I knew you’d make a wonderful mother. I hope I won’t have to wait too long before you make me a father.’ Overwhelmed by a sudden desire to bear his child, I found I couldn’t speak. ‘But maybe you’d rather wait a few years,’ he went on, hesitantly.

      ‘It’s not that,’ I said, finding my voice. ‘It’s just that I don’t see how I can give up my job, not while Millie is still at school. I pay her fees, you see, so I won’t be able to give up work for a year and a half.’

      ‘There’s absolutely no question of you working for another eighteen months,’ he said firmly. ‘Millie can move in with us as soon as we come back from our honeymoon.’

      I looked at him guiltily. ‘Much as I love Millie, I’d really like us to have a little time on our own first. And she’s so happy at her school it seems a shame to take her out a year early.’ I thought for a moment. ‘Can we speak to her school and ask them what they think?’

      ‘Of course. And maybe we should ask Millie what she thinks. I, for one, will be delighted if she chooses to move in with us at once. But if everybody thinks that it’s best to leave her where she is for the moment, I insist on paying her fees. After all, she’s going to be my sister soon.’ He took my hand in his. ‘Promise to let me help.’

      I looked at him helplessly. ‘I don’t know what to say.’

      ‘Then don’t say anything. All you have to do is promise to think about handing your notice in. I don’t want to never see you once we’re married. Now, what sort of house would you like? I need to know because, if you’ll let me, I’d like to buy you the house of your dreams as a wedding present.’

      ‘I’ve never really thought about it,’ I admitted.

      ‘Well, think about it now, because it’s important. Would you like a big garden, a swimming pool, lots of bedrooms?’

      ‘A big garden, definitely. I’m not bothered about a swimming pool and as for the number of bedrooms, it depends how many children we’re going to have.’

      ‘Quite a lot then,’ he smiled. ‘I’d like to live in Surrey, near enough to London to make the commute each day bearable. What do you think?’

      ‘Anywhere, as long as you’re happy. What about you? What sort of house would you like?’

      ‘I’d like it to be near a pretty town but far enough away for us not to be disturbed by noise. Like you, I’d like it to have a big garden, preferably with high walls around it so that nobody can see in. And I’d like a study, and a basement to keep things in. That’s about it really.’

      ‘A nice kitchen,’ I said. ‘I’d like a nice kitchen leading onto a terrace where we could have breakfast each morning, and a huge fireplace in the sitting room where we can have real log fires. And a yellow bedroom for Millie.’

      ‘Why don’t we draw up a plan of our dream house?’ he suggested, taking a sheet of paper from his briefcase. ‘Then I’ll have something to work with.’

      By the time he put me in a taxi two hours later, he’d made a drawing of a beautiful house, complete with landscaped gardens, a terrace, three reception rooms, a fireplace, a kitchen, a study, five bedrooms—including a yellow one for Millie—three bathrooms, and a little round window in the roof.

      ‘I defy you to find such a house by the time I get back from Argentina,’ I laughed.

      ‘I’ll do my very best,’ he promised, before giving me a kiss.

      The next few weeks passed in a whirlwind. When I got back from Argentina, I handed in my notice and put my house on the market. I had used my time away to think things over carefully and never doubted that I’d be doing the right thing if I did as Jack had asked. I knew that I wanted to marry him, and the thought that by the following spring I’d be living in a beautiful house in the country and maybe expecting our first baby, filled me with excitement. I’d been working non-stop for thirteen years and there’d been times when I’d wondered if I’d ever be able to get off the treadmill. And because I’d known that once Millie came to live with me I’d no longer be able to travel as I had, СКАЧАТЬ