Rosie's Diamond - Chapters 4 to 8

The story so far: Rosemary van der Velde,on her return from South Africa following the sudden death of her husband had become somewhat of a self imposed recluse. She had no family, apart from a long lost brother whom she had not yet been able to trace, and only a handful of friends. Her life though, was about to change...

The story so far: Rosemary van der Velde,on her return from South Africa following the sudden death of her husband had become somewhat of a self imposed recluse. She had no family, apart from a long lost brother whom she had not yet been able to trace, and only a handful of friends. Her life though, was about to change...Chapter Four

Gerald Arding was born in Wulfrum. Now approaching his fifty-third birthday he was still in Wulfrum. He had owned the Ploughmans Arms and the Rising Moon for many years. The Rising Moon was at the top end of the main street and the Ploughmans was at the bottom end facing the green. Over the years the two pubs had made him a fair amount of money, much of which he had invested very wisely and he was now probably the wealthiest man in the town.

He had bought the Rising Moon when his father had died and left him enough money to do so. He had run the pub almost single-handed and had saved diligently. When the Ploughman's Arms had come up for sale some ten years later he had bought it and had paid cash for it. Initially he moved into it himself and built up his business even more so than the "Moon." He put his sister and brother-in-law into the Moon and gave them fifty percent of the profits and rent-free accommodations. They did well out of it but more to the point, so did he. He continued running the Ploughman's until just after his fortieth birthday. That was when he got seriously involved in the investments market.

He did so well that after a few years he was able to step into semi-retirement. He had numerous interviews to find a live-in manager for the Ploughman's and eventually gave the position to a young couple from Gloucester called Adam and Jennie O'Connor. They had been trained in pub management in Ireland so he knew they had a good background. Their references were impeccable and they were both presentable and personable.

Initially he had asked Pru and Mike to keep an eye on them and help them as much as they could.

He need not have worried, it took them very little time to settle in and it was quickly apparent that they were popular with the customers.

It wasn't long before Pru and Mike left them to it.

He was so successful that he felt that it was time to move up in the world. He put his father's house up for sale and bought a larger house on the edge of town. His only regret was that he had not made his money a few years earlier when Wulfrum Manor had been on the market for the first time.

Nevertheless, The Gables was still an impressive house set in five acres of land.

The adjoining property was, in fact, Wulfrum Manor. The two houses were not particularly close together which afforded both of them almost total privacy.

When Gerald moved into the Gables the first thing he noticed was that the lady in the Manor had planted a line of poplar trees the whole length of the edge of her property further segregating the two houses, at least he assumed that she had planted them as they were far from maturity showing that they had not been there very long.

He knew very little about her except that she was a widow and had moved there after her husband had died.

He had seen her drive in and out several times in her dark blue Mercedes and though he had waved and smiled on several occasions she had not yet acknowledged his greetings.

She was a good looking woman he thought, maybe just a few years younger than he was.

Perhaps he would call round and introduce himself one day, who knows, they may even get on, after all they had at least three things in common, they both lived on their own, they both drove Mercedes, and they both had plenty of money.

At this stage in his life it was his big regret that he had never married. He had always been too concentrated on making money.

Sure, he had been out with many girls over the years. Earlier he just did not have the time to form attachments and later on he could never be sure whether it was him or his money that interested them. Anyway he hadn't met one that he had felt enough for to be prepared to take the chance.

Now he often felt lonely.

Perhaps that was why he considered introducing himself to the widow in the manor. Maybe it wouldn't work out. Maybe he wouldn't like her. Maybe she wouldn't like him. Still it would be worth a try. He had nothing to lose and anyway they might just become friends if nothing else.

Rosemary had seen Gerald waving to her but, as she did not know him she had ignored him. She had assumed that he was the new owner of the Gables. He looked pleasant enough but she did not want to do anything that would risk unwanted attention. Rod would not like that and in any case she had no intention of forming a relationship with any other man. Rod was her man and that was that.

Chapter Five

She had arranged for Connie Burtone to start as cook and cleaner as soon as she had moved in. She had interviewed about a dozen people. Some of them had wanted to take the job on a live-in basis but she had not wanted that. Of the others Connie had stood out head and shoulders above them.

She was friendly, courteous and a little portly. She was the white version of the cook she and Rod had had in South Africa. At thirty-eight she was a little younger than Rosemary. She lived about ten minutes away with her husband and two children, who at twelve and fifteen were able to look after themselves while she was working.

Connie was an excellent cook and the house was always spotless. Rosemary was delighted with her choice and had grown to trust her so much that she had given her her own set of keys. Connie was well pleased with the money she had been offered and after a few months Rosemary had told her that when she prepared various dishes she could cook extra to take home for herself and her family. That saved her a lot of money and not only that but it was something that the tax man couldn't get his greedy little hands on.

The job was easy. Rosemary was the kind of woman who liked routine. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were always at eight-thirty, one o'clock and seven o'clock and apart from the two cleaning days, Mondays and Fridays, with Wednesday as food preparation day, she got to spend quite a bit of time at home in between meal times. She was home, finished for the day, each evening at seven forty-five after she had served dinner. Rosemary always closed the dining room door after she had dined and Connie cleaned the table the following morning.

Rosemary did not like leaving dirty dishes over night but realized that Connie had a life outside of the Manor and she did not want to lose her by forcing her to work unnecessarily long hours.

She need not have worried because Connie had liked her instantly and had become quite fond of her. For her it was the ideal job.

Chapter Six

It was some time before Gerald plucked up the courage to call on Rosemary. He had been seriously thinking about it for some time and had found himself at the Manor gates on a couple of occasions — but had lacked the courage to press the bell and had merely turned and walked back home, amazed with himself for being so weak.

She certainly was a good looking woman and he was afraid that she would want nothing to do with him. God, this was like being a teenager all over again. He had watched her through his binoculars as she had driven in and out, but could not see her at the house as the trees were too well placed.

This time, however, he had decided that he would walk straight round to the gate and press the bell without further thought. It was around two-thirty on a Wednesday afternoon. He knew that the cook would be there, he often saw her coming and going and had realized that her hours were very regular. He thought that with her being there Rosemary would feel safer in allowing him up to the house.

This would at least break the ice and they would no longer be strangers. After that – who knows?

He rang the bell.

He felt sure she was in but no response was forthcoming.

He turned away to go back home.

"Hello."

He turned back.

"Oh, Mrs. Van der Velde, it's Gerald Arding from the Gables. I thought that as we are neighbours it would be nice to actually meet each other. After all we have been neighbours for quite some time now.

There was a pause – a somewhat lengthy pause.

. "Look," he said, "if it's not convenient I could always come back another time."

This seemed to ease her.

"No, no, Mr. Arding, please come up to the house."

The gates swung open and Gerald started scrunching his way up the gravel driveway.

The gates immediately closed behind him.

He smiled to himself. That he would at last meet the mystery woman pleased him.

There were six wide concrete steps leading up to the front door which was made to look even more impressive by the four large concrete columns, two of which were built into the wall on either side of the door. The columns supported a roof that had a patio above it, surrounded by metal railings, that, he assumed led into the master bedroom.

He had no need to press the doorbell, which was set to the right-hand side of the huge stained dark oak door, because as he reached for it the door opened and Connie Burtone greeted him.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Arding."

"Good afternoon."

He had seen her around the town but did not know her name.

"Please come in. Mrs. Van der Velde is in the lounge and she asked me to take you through."

She closed the door and led him down the hallway. Their footsteps seemed to echo from the wooden floor around the high ceiling above the central staircase.

The hallway did not have a lot of furniture but he could see that what there was, was either very expensive or antique.

He was impressed at her taste.

Connie stopped outside a door that led off the hallway to the left. She tapped lightly on the door and pushed it open. She stood back for him to enter.

He did so.

As she was about to close the door Rosemary said "Connie, please bring us some tea. Do you like Earl Grey Mr. Arding?"

"Yes, I do."

Connie closed the door.

Rosemary stood up. "I'm Rosemary Van der Velde," she introduced herself.

"Gerald Arding," he replied extending his hand to meet hers. Her grip was surprisingly firm, though short.

"Please, Mr. Arding, do sit down," she gestured to one of the two-seater settees and as he sat down she sat herself down on the other two-seater so that she was directly facing Gerald.

"Well, Mr. Arding, you probably think it somewhat remiss of me that we have not met before now. In fact you may well consider it rude of me. If you do then I apologize. I did not intend to portray that kind of image."

"Please, please there is absolutely no need to apologize and I most certainly did not take offence."

She gave a slight smile.

"Good."

"I just wanted you to know that if anything did happen whereby you needed assistance, then as your neighbour I would be only too pleased to offer assistance. Here, just in case, is my telephone number."

As he was speaking he placed his business card on the coffee table between them.

She looked at the card but did not pick it up.

"Thank you Mr. Arding, that is reassuring."

"I mean it. Please do not hesitate should the need arise."

"Thank you," she repeated.

"I presume that you are not a local lady?"

She looked surprised, then realised why he had asked.

"Oh, my name and accent. Actually I was born in Brighton but I have lived in South Africa for many years. That's where my husband and my surname came from."

He said nothing, but looked at her inquiringly.

"My husband died some years ago. It was then that I returned to England."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude."

"You didn't, it's been a long time now and I've got used to being on my own. I haven't yet come to terms with it but I have got used to it."

She changed the subject quickly and he realized that she did not want to discuss it further.

"Are you married Mr. Arding?"

"No, I never got around to it. I was always too busy working. Please, if you don't mind, call me Gerald. Mr. Arding sounds so stiff and formal."

"Very well, and you may call me Rosemary."

"I spent a month in South Africa about seven years ago. I had a business trip to Pretoria. I don't suppose you lived in Pretoria?"

He was trying to force a conversation.

"No, we lived in Kempton Park, which is in Johannesburg."

A knock on the door curtailed that particular avenue.

"Tea's ready Ma'am."

Connie, although she called Rosemary by her name when they were alone, always referred to her as "Ma'am" in company.

She pushed the door open with her foot and brought the tray over to the coffee table. There were two bone china cups and saucers, pale yellow with exquisite blue flowers as decoration, with matching milk jug, sugar bowl, tea plates and teapot. One plate, also from the same set was filled with slices of Madeira cake and plain tea biscuits.

Gerald immediately determined that he would not dunk his biscuits. She was hardly the sort of person who would appreciate that.

"Please help yourself."

It was a request, but sounded a little like an order.

Gerald leaned forward and took one biscuit and a slice of cake.

When Rosemary took nothing he wished that he hadn't taken both.

"Sugar and milk, Gerald?"

"Er, two sugars and just a drop of milk, thank you."

She poured the tea and put in milk and sugar for both of them.

"Thank you," he said again with just a hint of awkwardness.

He was fidgety in his chair, not quite sure whether to follow up on his attempted conversation about South Africa, when she spoke.

"And you, Gerald, what is your background?"

As he went through his life, so be it briefly, he suddenly realized how boring it sounded and just how little he had actually done.

While he talked she sat and listened and sipped her tea.

It was while she was sipping her tea that he noticed the huge diamond on her finger.

She was obviously aware of his interest.

"My husband was in the diamond business," she offered the explanation before he could say anything about it, and then just as quickly dismissed the subject.

"So you are a self-made man. I can only congratulate you on that. My husband had a good start from his father, but when he took over he built up the business considerably and I know how difficult that was. I can therefore appreciate your efforts in starting from nothing."

Gerald smiled. He was a little embarrassed but felt some pride in hearing those words from such an obviously successful and wealthy woman – not to mention such a sophisticated and attractive one.

As soon as he had entered the room and set eyes on her his long distance attraction to her had been confirmed.

Her dark brown eyes were complemented by her matching hair which hung down almost to her shoulders. She had a little make-up on but it was applied very subtly. She would have looked just as good without it.

Again, there was a knock at the door.

"Would you like any more tea?"

Rosemary looked across at Gerald.

"If Mr. Arding would like more please make him some, but I have to leave now. I have an appointment in Cheltenham at four-thirty which I cannot be late for."

"No, no, I'm fine." He did not want her to feel that he was imposing. He had after all melted the ice and was, at least, on first name terms.

She stood up and again offered her hand. As he shook it she said "You must come for dinner one evening."

She did not suggest when.

"I would love to," he said, as they walked to the door.

As the gravel again scrunched beneath his feet he wasn't sure whether he had been dismissed or not, but he did feel that the encounter went as well as could have been expected.

Apart from the occasional wave, Gerald had heard nothing from Rosemary for some time after his visit and was reluctant to appear pushy. He was sure that that would only serve to alienate her.

It was almost two months later when he answered his doorbell to find Connie Burtone standing there.

"Good evening, Mr. Arding." She had a letter in her hand which she held out to him. "Mrs. Van der Velde asked me to pop this round to you."

"Thank you." He stood silently, looking thoughtfully at the envelope.

"She asked me to bring back a reply," prompted Connie.

"Uh," he looked up at her.

"A reply, to the invitation."

Again he stood blankly for a moment before realization dawned. He opened the envelope, which had not been sealed, and pulled out a white card printed in gold.

It was an invitation to a dinner party the following Saturday night.

"Yes, please tell Mrs. Van der Velde that I would be honoured to attend."

Connie smiled and turned away.

Gerald was delighted with himself. Now he had a chance to really get to know her.

Chapter Seven

Connie had had the Saturday morning off and not started work until three p.m.

She had been in the kitchen for around an hour when she could have sworn that she heard voices. She pushed the kitchen door open but all that came back to her was silence.

She shrugged her shoulders and continued preparing for the dinner party.

Half an hour later she heard it again. This time she did not open the kitchen door but merely pressed her ear against it.

She was right, she could hear voices. She strained to hear but could not make out what was being said.

She had not let anyone in.

Slowly she opened the door. The voices seemed to come from the lounge where she knew Rosemary was.

She tip-toed along the corridor to the lounge, giving a short sharp rap on the door, she quickly opened it.

Rosemary was sitting on one of the armchairs. There was no one else in the room

"Sorry, I thought I heard voices and was a little worried."

Rosemary gesticulated to the corner. "It must have been the television you heard."

The television was on but it was showing a nature programme with very little commentary. In any case the volume was fairly low and she was sure that she would not have heard it in the kitchen.

"It must have been, that and my imagination."

"Thank you for your concern, Connie. How are things going in the kitchen?"

Realizing that Rosemary had closed the subject, Connie knew that there would be no point in pursuing it further.

"Pretty well, everything will be ready on time."

"That's good. If you need any help, call me."

The conversation was over.

"I will," she said, closing the door behind her.

Back in the kitchen Connie was worried. She knew that it had not been the television, but her own eyes had shown her that Rosemary was alone in the lounge. She felt eyes on her but the kitchen was empty apart from herself.

Strange, it felt colder.

She dismissed it, turned on the radio, and returned her thoughts and energy to the work at hand.

Although it was only a short walk, Gerald decided to drive to the Manor. It would, if nothing else, keep his shoes clean from the gravelled drive.

As he was getting into his car he heard another car already driving up Rosemary's drive.

As he drove up himself, he saw it parked. Does everybody drive a Mercedes he thought?

He pulled up and got out, leaving plenty of room for any other car that would be coming. He had no idea how many other people had been invited.

He climbed the steps and rang the bell. He was surprised when a young girl opened the door. His surprise was only momentary as he could tell by her attire that she was the waitress for the evening.

She quickly confirmed this.

"Good evening sir, I'm Penny. I will be helping serve dinner tonight. Please come through to the lounge for drinks."

She led the way. The lounge door was open and he could see Rosemary talking to two other people.

She turned and caught sight of him.

"Ah, Gerald, do come in."

He smiled and walked over to them.

She looked good. The last time he was here she looked good, but this time with her ample cleavage showing – wow.

"Let me introduce you to Michael and Ruth Curzon. Michael is one of the country's top neurologists and is resident at Cheltenham General. Michael and Ruth, this is Gerald Arding, my nearest neighbour and one of Wulfrum's leading businessmen."

They all shook hands and expressed general pleasantries. Before the conversation could continue to a different level footsteps were heard in the hallway and two men, both in their late thirties or early forties, came into the room.

"Darling, so good to see you, you look absolutely marvelous," gushed one of them to Rosemary, following up the greeting with a somewhat affected hug and a no contact kiss to each of her cheeks.

"How are you David?"

"Can't complain, no one listens anyway."

She smiled.

"Tony, glad you could make it."

"Me too. The conference ended earlier than I thought."

Gerald's smile had faded. Good God, she's invited a couple of queers. He had never understood them and at best had only ever tolerated them. Now, if he was to have any chance with Rosemary he was going to have to pretend to like them.

Rosemary again made the introductions.

"David and Tony have built themselves a great reputation as interior designers all around the Cotswolds and were recommended to me by Michael and Ruth."

That's just one reputation thought Gerald and then immediately chided himself and told himself to stop.

"Help yourselves to drinks while we wait for our two other guests to arrive."

"Well, Gerald, so you're the mystery man from next door," Ruth said jokingly.

"I always thought that Rosemary was the mystery woman next door to me," he smiled back.

She took his elbow, almost spilling his martini, and steered him a few feet away from the others.

"I can understand how you would think that. She was always the outgoing, very social type, more so than Rod. She was the one who always persuaded Rod to get on the party circuit in South Africa, even so he was always fairly reluctant. He was not a great mixer and did not suffer fools easily, but he would do anything for her.

When Rod died it hit her very badly and she became only a shadow of her former herself. This is the first time in years that Michael and I have seen her in the company of other people. This is really a big step forward for her. Over the last few years we have occasionally managed to get her over to our home and meet other people. That's where she met the others who are here tonight. I'm glad that she has found a friend nearby who can keep an eye on her."

"Actually this is only the second time that I have met her but she does seem to be a very likable lady."

"Uh uh," she said softly, "I think she suspects that we are talking about her. Quickly, tell me about your work." Not wanting to be embarrassed in front of Rosemary he immediately started talking to her about the pubs.

"I still have both public houses but they are now both managed and I now concentrate my energies on the stock market."

"You must give me some advice. I dabble but I am not very well informed. Ah Rosie, Gerald was telling me about his business interests."

"So I heard," she said, but her voice did not sound too sure.

The arrival of the other two guests, Joseph and Louise Marshall, prevented any awkward denials. Joe and Louise were the duly elected Mayor and Mayoress of Wulfrum.

Rosemary did the customary and obligatory introductions.

When she came to Gerald, Joe spoke first.

"It's okay Rosemary, Gerald and I have known each other for years. In fact we were at school together and I think that before we both went to grammar school in Cheltenham that Gerald probably met Louise at middle school."

It wasn't so much a statement, but by the way he looked at Gerald, it was more of a question.

"That's perfectly true. Louise was the most popular girl in the school, but I think she always had a penchant for Joe," he looked towards Rosemary and smiled.

"How are you both?" he asked as he noticed a slight colouration to Louise's cheeks.

He realized immediately why but it had been many years ago and had only happened once. She had been seeing Joe for over a year at the time but they had had a big row over something or other, what it was he didn't know. She had probably told him but he had long forgotten, and his was the shoulder she turned to cry on. A few drinks, a summer day, a walk in the country, and a couple of hours' shelter in some farmer's barn to escape the downfall, and there you were. By God she was hot and has still got it. He broke his look and turned to Joe.

"Good to see you both again."

Let it remain our little secret, he thought. Anyway he didn't want Rosemary to know.

"Good to see you too, Gerald."

Connie tapped on the door.

"We're ready to serve Ma'am."

"Thank you, Connie."

She looked generally around the group. "Let's go through to the dining room, shall we?" she said as she duplicated the request with a sweeping gesture of her arm.

Rosemary was at the head of the table and had placed Gerald on the right hand side between David and Louise. At least that meant that he and Louise could avoid eye contact. On the opposite side Ruth was in the middle facing Gerald with Joe on her right and Tony to the left. Michael was at the end facing Rosemary.

He had hoped that he would be seated next to Rosemary but realized that that would more than likely pose questions in everyone else's minds.

Within minutes Penny came in and served the first course.

The conversation was proceeding well and everyone was contributing. The party gave every impression that it was going to be a success. This was more than Gerald had hoped for when David and Tony had appeared. He felt that he had misjudged them as they both came across as regular guys and he had to admit to himself that had he not already known then he would not have suspected, so to speak, apart from the affected way that David spoke. That was kind of a give away.

It transpired that Michael was an old family friend of Rosemary's family. Her father had been professionally involved with Michael's father and both families had become firm friends even after their fathers' professional relationship had ended. What the relationship had been she did not say, and although he was mildly interested it really was of no great concern to him.

As the evening wore on and the drinks went down it seemed that everyone was the best of friends. Gerald even found himself laughing and joking with David and Tony.

Michael recounted stories of Rosemary when she was younger and gave every impression that she was quite the girl about town. He mentioned Roderick a few times but Gerald felt that he did not really like him, that he hadn't approved of him for Rosemary. He also got the distinct feeling that he knew something about Rod, something that Rosemary was not aware of.

He felt that he had no right to ask, certainly not at this point in time, it was far too soon.

During the evening he became more relaxed as he got to know her friends. Michael and Ruth in particular knew a lot about Rosemary and passed a lot of it on, not to him specifically but to the general company. The more he heard about her the more he liked her. There were no further uncomfortable feelings between him and Louise. They both realized that it had just been one of those things and anyway, it had happened over thirty years ago.

Everyone had interesting stories to tell, not just about Rosemary, although apart from Michael and Ruth, the others had only known her since her return to England and none of them had ever met Rod. He found Michael and Ruth the most interesting, probably because Michael had known her since childhood, even though she was four or five years older than him. The reason that he found them the most interesting stemmed also from the fact that they knew so much about Rosemary and by merely listening to them he could find out quite a lot about her. Ruth had met her when she had started dating Michael and had soon become good friends with her. They had frequently travelled to London together for theatre weekends and shopping sprees.

It transpired that it was on one of their theatre weekends that Rosemary had met Rod. Apparently he had been over on business and they had been staying at the same hotel. At the theatre that Saturday evening she had found herself, coincidentally, sitting next to him. She had assumed that this was due to the fact that the tickets had been purchased through the hotel reception desk. He had started talking to her by asking where he had seen her before. She had merely thought that he could have come up with something less corny than that. Then he had remembered that he had seen her in the hotel restaurant and it had gone on from there.

Ruth did not mention any further weekend outings with Rosemary and Gerald assumed that they had stopped as soon as Rod had appeared on the scene. This thought gained conviction with what he had picked up earlier from Michael. He was sure that for some reason Michael just did not like Rod. There must have been something in it because Michael seemed to be a very affable and friendly man. At least that was his first impression and his first impressions were usually pretty accurate.

Ruth's conversation about Rosemary had ended there and he thought she had shown a little resentment too, when she spoke of Rod.

Glancing at Rosemary, he noticed that she was fidgeting around slightly in her chair as if she wished the conversation would change.

He was intrigued. He wanted to know more about Rod and determined to try to bring up the topic with Michael after dinner.

As dessert arrived the conversation had changed and everyone was talking about their own experiences and work.

"Rosemary, please tell Connie that she has done us all proud. Dinner was excellent and that dessert demands several extra visits to the gym."

Michael had obviously spoken for all of them as they all readily agreed.

Again Rosemary spoke and gestured at the same time. "Let's retire to the lounge for anyone who cares to smoke," she said, pushing her chair back and standing up. It was clear that she did not approve of smoking.

As they all went into the lounge she followed them and closed the dining room door behind her. Connie and Penny had gone home and as usual, Connie would deal with the cleaning up in the morning.

Gerald managed to engage in conversation with Michael and Louise. After a while they heard Ruth call across the room. "Louise, can you come over here and settle our argument for us?" Ruth was standing with Rosemary.

"Excuse me, let me go and see if I can help." Louise turned and left them.

Gerald realized that he had to ask about Rod now or else he would miss his chance. "Michael," his voice was a little hesitant. "If you think that I'm being intrusive, please say so."

Michael looked at him and waited for him to continue. "Earlier when you were talking about when you knew Rosemary, before she got married and moved to South Africa, I picked up the distinct impression that you did not like her husband and the fact that you did not expand on it made me very curious, especially as Rosemary gives a different impression of him. As I said, tell me to mind my own business if you want to. I will not take offence."

As Ruth had done before dinner, Michael took hold of this elbow and moved him a little further away from the others. "You were right, I did not like him. At first he came over as being friendly and personable, but we quickly noticed a change in Rosemary. She became withdrawn and had no time for herself. She was always with Rod – no I take that back – she was always where Rod wanted her to be.

Gerald raised his eyebrows.

"What I meant is that Rod often had time for himself, he would go where he wanted and when he wanted, but Rosemary had to do as he said all the time. To a great extent she lost touch with most of her friends and even her brother. I only heard from her once or twice a year. From being outgoing she became submissive, yet strangely she seemed to accept it without argument. I tried talking to her about it but she just said that I shouldn't take too much notice of it, it was just Rod's way, and that in his own way he thought the world of her. Almost overnight she became a different person."

"Do you think it was fear?"

"No, I don't think so. I'm sure that she loved him. If you get her talking about him now, that message comes over. I think she still loves him – she is certainly in love with his memory. She needs someone else in her life."

He paused.

The suggestion was not lost on Gerald, but he did not respond to it.

"But you had other reasons to dislike him?" he prompted, realizing that the discussion was not going exactly along the path that he had intended.

"True, but I had nothing concrete, just suspicions. He told everyone that his company was in the diamond business, but other than that he never elaborated. Rosie was, is, absolutely convinced that Rod's only interest was diamonds. He always said that his father started the business, and that much I'm sure is true, and that when he took over he multiplied the business assets. Certainly the assets did increase greatly in a short space of time but I had grave doubts that it was purely through his father's business.

The most tangible clue I had went back to when he and Rosie began dating. They were staying with us in the cottage in Wales one weekend when there was a telephone call for Rod. It was from South Africa. He took the call and seemed upset. He obviously did not want anyone to hear as he kicked the door shut. I was outside in the garden, which he did not realize, and the window was open. I could here him clearly. I heard him say and I quote 'he was two kilos short.' Then he said, 'you know what to do, get rid of the bastard and make sure the rest of them know what happened.' With that he slammed the phone down. Myself, I quietly moved to the far end of the garden. Jeez, it scared the hell out of me. I didn't know what to do."

"A couple of times you said 'had,' suggesting that you had got some clarification somewhere?"

"Well, yes I did. I had a friend working in South Africa who made some inquiries for me. He couldn't find out too much but it was enough to confirm my fears."

Gerald did not consider that this was the time to pursue the point. He was sure Michael would give him details at a later date.

"Did you ever say anything to Rosie?"

"No, never, and please don't you."

"You have my word. What happened then?"

"Nothing, he was perfectly charming. It was as if the phone call had never happened."

"Did you ever do anything about it?"

"Well, there really was very little I could do. The one occasion that we did visit them in South Africa, when we went for the wedding, I made a few general inquiries and, from what I could gather, the diamond business was legitimate but was nowhere big enough to come even close to supporting Rod's lifestyle. My inquiries confirmed what my friend had told me. That was when I really started to worry about Rosie. Christ, she was married to a man I suspected of being a mobster and she thought that the sun shone out of his backside. I decided then to say nothing because I wanted to remain her friend. One day she may need me, so I thought it best to stay quiet and be there for her if ever she did."

"For what it's worth, I think you were right."

"Thank you. All I ever said to her was that if for any reason things did not work out, then she knew where I was. I have always felt that I should have said more, but quite frankly I was scared. Anyway, as it turned out he always treated her well. At least she's never said anything to the contrary."

"Under the circumstances I think you were absolutely correct in the way you handled it."

"What did you handle?" Rosemary had crept up on them.

"Oh nothing really," Michael said, slowly trying to buy some thinking time.

"Come on, surely it's not a secret."

"No, of course not. We were talking about school days and the time the school played rugby against Gloucester Grammar and I got punched in the scrum."

"I remember that, your eye was black for a fortnight."

"I was just telling Gerald that I did not retaliate and he agreed that I was right."

"And I thought I had stumbled on some closely guarded dark secret from your past."

"Anyway Rosie, it's getting late and we really should be heading home. It's all right for Gerald here, he's only got to go next door."

She looked at her watch. "Good heavens. It's almost midnight, I had no idea."

"That's because it was such a great evening, everyone enjoyed themselves and we are, and I stress we, are going to do it again soon."

Rosemary walked down the hallway with her guests to bid them all good night. Tony and David drove off first, quickly followed by Joe and Louise. Gerald shook hands with Michael and gave both women a hug and a kiss on the cheek. He was pleased that Rosemary did not resist at all. Michael gave her a longer hug as did Ruth and then all three of them walked down the steps towards their car. Michael led the way, car keys in hand.

"Damn," all eyes turned towards Michael. He had dropped his keys.

He bent down to retrieve them. As he was bending down he felt the wind of something passing close to his head.

There was a loud crunch as something smashed into his car. It penetrated the metal about three inches.

Everyone was stunned as they realized that had Michael not dropped his keys that the slate would have done to his head what it had done to the car. Michael was visibly shaken.

"Bloody hell," was all he could manage, "bloody hell."

Rosemary and Ruth were quickly at his side, each holding on to an arm. Gerald looked upwards apprehensively but as it was too dark to see nothing.

"Michael, come back in and sit down."

"You know, I think I will." Rosemary and Ruth helped him back into the hallway where he sat down. He was even more shaken now as he realized just how lucky he had been.

"Have you got a shot of brandy?" Ruth asked, adding "It's okay, I'm going to drive."

Rosemary noticed that Ruth was also shaking and thought that she could use a brandy too, but didn't suggest it as she had said that she was going to drive home.

Michael quickly recovered his composure but still took the brandy.

"I'm so sorry, Michael. I can't believe that happened. I only had the roof put on about three months ago. I had it done to prevent such a thing happening because the old roof seemed to have a few loose slates. I'll get the roofer back on Monday to check it out. I really am so sorry. I don't know what I would have done if…"

"Don't blame yourself," he interrupted now back to his normal self. "It wasn't your fault, it was just one of those things. The slate could have fallen any time – it was just a total coincidence that we were there at the time. Anyway, it missed me. Whoever threw it was a bad shot." He tried to make a joke of it but no one smiled.

"Are you all right?" he asked Ruth.

"Yes," but now the emotion had taken hold of her and she burst into tears. He stood up and put his arms around her. He just held her for a few minutes and let her cry it out of her system.

Gerald could not remember doing it, it must have been instinct, but he found his arm around Rosemary's shoulder. She had rested her head on his shoulder. As he became aware of it he took his arm away and stood back.

"I'm sorry."

"No need to be Gerald. A bit of support helped, I was feeling a little shaky."

Fifteen minutes later they were ready to leave. Michael left the slate sticking out of the car in case he caused more damage by trying to remove it himself,

Gerald stood on the steps with Rosemary as Michael and Ruth drove away. It looks like a shark fin he thought but there was no humour attached to the thought.

They watched in silence as the red tail lights receded down the driveway and vanished behind the wall as the car turned the corner and out on to the main road.

"Rosemary, if you need anything or cannot sleep, please phone me. I'll be only too happy to talk. In any case I'll pop round tomorrow morning to see how you are."

"Thank you Gerald, you've been very kind."

He did not wish to cause any awkwardness between them so he squeezed her elbow and, smiling, he said good night and turned towards his car.

As he drove away she turned and went in, closing the door behind her.

He was pleased, very pleased, with the way the evening had gone. He was particularly pleased with the last half an hour but wished the circumstances had been different.

That Michael was one lucky guy.

He sat up until gone two just in case the phone rang. It didn't, so after a couple of Glenlivets he went to bed.

Chapter Eight

Rosemary had called the roofer on Sunday morning at his home and told him in no uncertain terms what had happened the night before.

"Mrs. Van der Velde, I just don't know what to say to you. As you are aware, I worked on your property myself and I thoroughly checked it before I left. There really were no problems with it. I will be round, however, first thing tomorrow morning. I would come today but it's my youngest daughter's sixth birthday. I really cannot say how sorry I am that this happened and I can assure you that if I find it to be any fault of mine then I will compensate the gentleman for the damage.

I won't speculate further until I have checked the problem but please be assured that I will be there at 8:30 in the morning and I will do everything in my power to sort this out and put your mind at rest."

There was no need for further talk so they both said good-bye, although Rosemary's was a tad curt.

As soon as the phone was down she was sorry that she had been quite as short with him as she had been. After all he did come across as a very polite, trustworthy and conscientious man and his references were impeccable. She had checked all of them. Maybe she should reserve her judgment until he had looked at the roof.

At precisely eight thirty the gate bell rang. She looked at the monitor and saw a small truck with several ladders protruding over the cab. At least he had kept his word about turning up first thing. She opened the gate.

The truck trundled up the driveway, slowly and noisily over the gravel, and came to a halt outside the already open front door.

"Good morning Mrs. Van der Velde."

"Good morning Mr. Highman," she said, a little more politely. She thought that was a really apt name for a roofer but was sure he had heard it all before.

"Right then, show me where the problem occurred."

"It was directly above where you are now. The car that was damaged was parked where your lorry is."

"Ok, then we'll need the big ladder," he said, moving to the rear of the truck and unfastening the ties that secured the ladder. He slid off the required ladder."

"You'd better step back a little while I manoeuvre this into place."

As she stepped back he swung the ladder round so that the foot of it rested against the wall. Then he walked to the other end and lifted it until he was underneath. The ladder rose as he walked forward, pushing up on each rung until the ladder was resting vertically against the wall. He then pulled the foot away and pulled up the extension by means of the attached rope. He allowed four rungs to extend above the gutter and rested the ladder against it in such a way that the side of it was supported against the front porch.

"Now she won't slip," he said as he started clambering up it.

He had been on the roof for twenty minutes or so when she heard movement at the top of the ladder and he climbed back down. When he got off the ladder he looked at her and shook his head.

"I'm even more confused now. The slates on the roof are as near as perfect as they can be. The one slate that is missing was from the top of the roof and the tie that held it is still in place. The only way it could have come out is if someone had undone the tie, taken out the slate and put back the tie. I know it came out but it really couldn't have done."

"But Mr. Highman, it did."

"Yes, I know. It's missing. But looking at the roof there is no reason whatsoever, why it should have come down."

He could see that she was sceptical. He took out his mobile phone. "Let me call someone else and get a second opinion."

"I've just called the man I first worked for before I set up on my own. He has been in the business for thirty-five years so, obviously, is very experienced. As a favour for me he's coming round right now. Maybe he will be able to explain it."

Less than an hour later a second ladder-laden truck came down the driveway. The truck announced itself as Premier Roofing of Cheltenham.

A short greying gentleman in clean pressed overalls got out. "Well Dave," he said, "you certainly intrigued me on the phone. Good morning ma'am," he added as Rosemary reappeared on the porch.

"Let me get up there and take a look." He was not on the roof as long but he too came down shaking his head.

"That tile should not have moved. I can assure you ma'am that the work to your roof has been very well done. I agree with what Dave told me on the phone, the only way it could have come loose was if someone had pulled it out and, obviously, at that time of night there would not have been anyone on the roof. I'm sorry, I can't explain it either."

Rosemary's mouth opened slightly.

"Mrs. Van der Velde?" questioned Dave Highman.

"What? Oh, er nothing," the words stumbled out. "It's just worrying that there is no rational explanation."

She had turned a little pale.

"Thank you gentlemen. I'm sorry I had any doubt about your work Mr. Highman, but under the circumstances I had to call you."

"That's fine. I quite understand."

With that she turned and went inside.

"Dave, what the hell's going on? That tile never came away on it's own."

"I know, it's weird. Anyway, I'm just relieved that it's not down to me. I don't know about you, but I've got work to do."

After shaking hands and promising to get together for a beer they got into their respective trucks and formed a two-vehicle convoy down the driveway and through the gate to the road, they both turned towards Cheltenham although Dave had to wait for two cars to pass before he could pull out.

Gerald had seen the roofer's truck turn into the Manor and was still pottering by his entrance when he saw a second one go in. He didn't consider it prudent to go round. He felt that it would appear that he was interfering, even though he had said the previous evening that he would call.

He did, however, want to know what was happening and would prefer not to ask Rosemary directly, at least not for a few days, in case it was deemed to be an intrusion.

It was far better to play it slowly. At least now he had the feeling that she did like him.

He stayed near the entrance for a good hour before he heard the two trucks start up their engines and head back down the drive to the road. The first one, Premier Roofing, turned towards Cheltenham and drove off quickly. The second one turned to follow but was moving much slower as he had to wait for traffic before merging on to the main road.

He stepped to the edge of the road and raised his hand. The truck was moving so slowly that the driver barely had to brake to stop. He wound his window down.

"Sorry to stop you, but I was one of the guests the other night when the tile smashed into the car and I was wondering what happened?"

"It's strange, the roof is in perfect condition and the clip holding that particular tile is still in position. It couldn't have just come down. It was so odd that I called in a colleague to see it and he confirmed what I have just told you."

"Actually, when I think about it you're right, the tile could not have just come loose and slid down the roof because the car was at least ten yards away from the house, and had it slid down it could not possibly have reached the car. Gravity would not have permitted it to do so."

The driver frowned. "That's right. I never thought of that. I don't suppose that you have any explanation."

"None whatsoever."

"Nor me, but I'm pleased we talked. Any lingering doubts I had about it being my fault have now been erased."

"Good," said Gerald stepping back from the vehicle. "I'm glad to have been able to help."

The window closed again and with a wave of his hand the driver went on his way. As the lorry vanished, Gerald was still standing, somewhat bemused, by the roadside. A much larger lorry went by, well over the speed limit, and this brought him back from his thoughts.

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