Chapter 19

“That sounds admirable, sir; eminently sensible, as one would expect from a lawyer – sorry, solicitor.”

“Lawyer remains a general term used for anyone in legal practice, but in Scotland we are all solicitors or advocates as official legal positions. Advocates appear in higher courts, acting for we solicitors where an upper court is involved. We ourselves do most of our own court appearances in Sheriff court, Justice of the Peace court, tribunals and inquiries.”

“Ah,” I uttered, “So, it will be tribunals and inquiries that will demand more background knowledge for you to act effectively?”

“True. However, most of that comes from the client or clients.”

“As long as they wish you to know that. If they have something to hide, they may be more reticent in what they admit to you, without you being aware of it.”

“That may occasionally be the case, but a solicitor may prefer at times to not know certain facts that could be detrimental to a client’s case. Our objective is always to win the case for our client.”

“I see. Winning means payment, of course.”

“A lot more than losing, certainly.”

“But it might be the case that knowing a defect in your client’s case you can make a better fist of it. You might want to be made aware of a possible defect, but not officially be informed. That may help get the client to confess his error to you, and you can then work out a better position in court.”

“You make a good argument, Bob. I presume you were involved in the school debating team?”
“Good Lord, no! That was all done to formal propositions that you had to argue. It was not about facts but how you presented your case. I am sure your judges expect facts to back up clever arguments?”

“That is the way of courts; prove your case, not just argue for it.”

Sandy stuck her head in the door.

“Daddy? Are you and Bob agreed yet? You are taking an awful lot of time about it.”

I left it to Daddy to reply, as it was his study we were in.

“Just concluding, Sandy. I will work out what Bob can do for me, and we will take it from there. We were delayed by a discussion of interesting legal points.”

“Bob talking law? My Bob? Weird.”

“Generalisations, Sandy, not legal niceties.”

“Okay, Daddy. Can I have Bob back now?”

“I expect so. What do you want to do with him?”

He grinned as he spoke. Sandy was not amused and grimaced.

“Show him around the house, silly. He has not seen it yet, except for your cramped study, full of your blasted law books.”

“Very well, show him round, but I hope you and Georgie have tidied up your rooms.”
“We have, Daddy. Don’t be a spoilsport. We are grown women now, as you ought to be conscious of. I am now engaged, even though I don’t have an engagement ring yet.”

I jumped in with, “We will rectify that shortly, Sandy.”

Mr Thompson directed, “Not too flashy a diamond, Sandy. No need to show off, just be able to show it is there.”

I agreed, “Good point, Sandy. Two or three smaller stones instead of one large one sounds pretty sensible, but we will get whichever you prefer.”

Mr Thompson groaned theatrically, “She will twist you round her little finger if you are not careful, Robert. Her mother was good at that, and I see it in her. Georgie was never that way; much more down to earth, that girl, except in her poor choice of a man.”

Sandy told him, “She has started coming out of her shell, Daddy, now she has seen me and my Bob together. Bob is a much better role model despite his relative youth.”

“Good, good,” he agreed, anxious to leave his comments at that. He was still not very adept at dealing with his daughters, I could see. Always afraid he’d do or say the wrong thing and alienate them, I thought. Happiest in a legal setting, I assumed.

Sandy took me to see the living room – or sitting room, or lounge – all of which terms were currently in vogue, viewed by class. Lounge was upper-class; the others middle and lower-class usage.

We then moved to the dining room, and then the well-appointed kitchen. When I admired it, she declared proudly that she and Georgie had chosen all the newer appliances. This was mostly Georgie’s kitchen, I thought.

“That’s why I found it so easy to choose the equipment for our kitchen, darling.”

I nodded my approval, and we continued, this time upstairs to where the bedrooms were situated. She pointed to one door and said, “That is Daddy’s, what used to be our parents’ bedroom. We stay out of it. Our cleaner is the only one who goes into that room apart from him. I am afraid it has too many memories for him, of our late mother.”
“He lost a lot, when your mother died, clearly.”

“Exactly. He breaks up whenever he has to talk about her. He has no inclinations towards finding a second wife. He has enough trouble with us around to remind him of our mother. He keeps the family photo album in there with him, so I imagine he brings it out every so often to look at her in better times.”

“Sad. Can we move on, pet?”

“Sorry. I didn’t intend to sound morbid. This is Georgie’s bedroom.”

She opened the door and we looked in. It was still a teenage girl’s bedroom, to my thoughts; all pink and frothy. Sandy seemed to view it that way as well.

“She wanted to go back in her mind to before her troubles, I think, so she never updated her room.”

“Again, sad. What about your bedroom? Dare you show it to me?”

“I have nothing to hide from my love. I am an open book, more or less.”

“As long as the book is an adventure novel, and not a horror story or a Mills and Boon.”

“An adventure novel? I suppose that is what I am in now, an adventure. I was never into soppy romances; Georgie brought me up to be more clear-headed. Anyways, have a look around.”

And with that she flung open her bedroom door, and I peered in.

By God! It was neat and tidy, with walls of contrasting pastel colours, and one or two framed prints hanging. These were mostly odd scenes, one being Salvador Dali’s portrait of Christ on the Cross; the one that hangs in Kelvingrove Art Gallery in Glasgow. It has always struck me as a unique viewpoint, looking down from above at the figure hanging from the cross high in the sky, the view down far below to a body of water containing a boat and fishermen. This is assumed to be the Sea of Galilee and a reference to his fishermen disciples, though it has never been stated as such, as far as I know. The purchase was controversial among the Glasgow councillors when the Director of Glasgow Museums bought it from Dali in 1952, but it has since become famous throughout Europe as a great work of art; a city asset that brings in the art tourists, much as the Mona Lisa does in Paris.
“Quite a room, Sandy,” I expressed my awe at her sense of decoration. “You have an eye for decorative arrangement, that is certain.”

“You recognised the local one, Bob. The large black and white print is The Plane Tree, by Matisse. Daddy bought it for me for my 18^th birthday. The third one is a poster by Toulouse-Lautrec of the singer Yvette Guilbert. Georgina found it for me in a junk shop. She thought it would suit my taste, and she was right.”

“Goodness gracious. This makes me think you would be doing a degree in art appreciation, my love.”

“Gosh, no. You can’t make money in art appreciation unless you are lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. Business Studies almost guarantees a well-paying job afterwards.”

“A very practical approach, Sandy. I am impressed to be marrying a woman of such perception. You decide what you want, and go for it.”
“You forget it takes two to make a pair, Bob. Your involvement with this time travel machine is a similar case of going for what seems to you to be the best choice. You haven’t worried too much about either the assumed criminal money-man in the future, or the UK government spooks that might come down on you like the proverbial ton of bricks if they knew of the machine’s existence.”

“Ah, but it does not theoretically exist in this time, as it is not invented until nearer 2026. Its presence here is dependent on it being invented in the future, so if it was interfered with by our authorities, it might cease to exist, making them look foolish.”

Sandy blinked as she absorbed this exposition, then accused, “But you are already using it in this time, so in theory you have interfered with it.”

“Admittedly, I have used it, but that is not interfering with its workings or operation, which is what might be detrimental to its existence now. I don’t propose to make alterations to it in any way, but I suspect that even thinking of doing so might result in it snapping back to 2026 and no longer existing in 1961.”

Sandy posited, “If that were to happen, would it also mean that the gold ingots and the contents of the house might also disappear from existence?” then she caught herself and said very quietly, “Then we might never have met, for you were at the agency only because you discovered the machine’s existence.”

“That is a possibility, if time can be changed back to its original pre-2026 appearance, but the fact that it does not seem to have happened, implies that such interference does not occur, therefore knowledge of it remains restricted to a few individuals.”

I admitted, “I did more or less admit to your father that time travel was possible, but I also suggested that such knowledge had to be closely guarded.”

Sandy was positive.

“Daddy will not do anything that might adversely affect me or Georgina, and now you as well. I know him well enough to be certain of that, Bob.”

I ruminated, “Now that I think of it, there may be more than one timeline of events, and we experience the one that we are inside. There be other timelines possible where other events occurred, giving different outcomes. Good grief, that could be millions of possibilities, but like in quantum mechanics it is only when you personally perceive one that it exists.”

“How do you mean, Bob? I have heard of quantum mechanics at the university, but not your theory about time possibilities.

“It actually dates back to the nineteen-thirties, Sandy. Several theorists were working on the structure of the atom, and a few mathematicians like Paul Dirac worked out that inside the atom, physics has different laws. At first it was accepted that the electron was a particle, but other calculations suggested it was a wave, then an experiment with light beams going through narrow slits produced a diffraction pattern which could only happen if the light was composed of both a wave and a particle!

Odd, eh? It gets worse.

From this example you can see where the physics or mechanics inside the atom don’t obey the normal laws of physics. Another formula posited that an electron doesn’t have a particular position within the atom, just a probability of existing somewhere in a cloud of possibilities. It is only when you look for an electron that it appears in a position instead of somewhere in that notional cloud. Even then, you can either discern its position or its speed or its something or other, but not all at the same time.

All that stuff is partly theory, partly proved, but pretty much all now accepted by science as a mathematical description of reality.”

Sandy queried, “Then time travel may be connected to quantum physics, and that is why it could be possible despite normal physics saying it was impossible?”
“That’s about where I had got to in assessing what it was doing. The power used to move me to a new site appears to be a lot less than one might expect, so it might not simply be more efficient batteries, but another quantum effect. Possibly power gets shifted back and forward; used and later retrieved on the return leg, cutting down the total expended. Otherwise I cannot get how little power must be applied. Maybe it is a simple transfer to another possibility, then back again. Could 2026 to my mind be such a possibility only, and not a real existence yet in our own timeline, except when I arrive at the lab?”

“Bob, you are confusing me with your mental gymnastics, sounding like one of my lecturers. Let’s get back to the here and now, where we love each other and that is the most important thing in life.”
I switched my mind back to normal mode, and regarded my lovely with a degree of lust. I stepped closer and gathered her into my arms for a happy kiss. She responded with caution, “Not too much passion when Daddy is nearby, Bob; and beware of showing interest in Georgie in the house too. Daddy is not ready for us having a menage a trois. We will have to break it to him gently after we are married; probably after Georgie gets pregnant and an explanation is required.”

“But inside your bedroom I can fondle your rear end and play with your tits a little?”

“A little, but we can’t stay in here for long. You will have to go back out there and be a good prospective son-in-law.”

I sighed a little, but agreed to behave.

“I am still staggered at having been accepted by you, Sandy. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I want you to know it.”

Sandy pouted and said, “I know that, Bob, but remember that you are better than I ever expected, despite being younger: good-looking, well-behaved, and recently become rich. What more could a girl want?”

“A baby?” I suggested, with a wry smile, knowing that was for the future.

“Certain girls can aim for a baby fairly soon, darling, but I need to postpone that for a while, until I know I have achieved a useful qualification, with a business degree to my name; even if it only means I can manage our finances competently.”

“I know, my love. I respect your determination to succeed. I bet you will also be running your father’s finances after you graduate. Have you suggested that prospect to him?”

“Not yet. We have years before we get to that position. He employs an accountant to keep his finances in order and help him pay as little tax as possible.”

I nodded as I took this in. With all the dividends and so forth from my investments, I might also need to work out how best to manage my funds, tax-wise. Probably our deceased inventor did not have an official presence as a UK citizen of our time, and thus avoided paying tax.

I said to her, “Will you be able to act as my accountant soon, or do we need an accountant of our own?”

Sandy pointed out, “Accountancy is more a matter of knowledge of how the tax system works, and how it can be subverted to your advantage, Bob. It takes time to absorb that knowledge, so we probably need to pay an accountant in the interim.”

“Okay. Our assets are simple investments in stocks and shares, then we have ownership of several companies. The companies will probably have expenditure that can be set against profits, so if they are well run, the tax liability should be minimal. Things we own, such as artworks, only attract tax when they are sold, and I am in no rush to sell stuff. Your father says I will have to pay income tax and National Insurance out of my pay, so he suggests a smallish salary at the start. I agree with that proposal.”

“You certainly did have a detailed discussion with my father,” she exclaimed.
“Hmm ... yes. One thing that did not come up was him becoming a grandfather. Do you think he is anticipating something in that line?”

“He might have done, with Georgina, but when that fell through, I believe he resigned himself to being much older before he became a grandfather.”
“So if Georgie suddenly turns up pregnant, how is he going to take it?”

“Now that is a question and a half. I just don’t know. Pleased at the prospect of becoming a grandfather, and displeased at her being unmarried and pregnant; a split decision, I would think.”

“So if she told him she regarded herself as a second wife to me, what is he going to say?”

“Hold back on that thought, Bob. It might be better if I introduced the idea to him, gently, suggesting that she was starting the family on my behalf because I was too involved in my educational attainment.”

“What? Portraying Georgie as sacrificing her matrimonial chances to help out her younger sister? You think he will go for that scenario?”

“Why not? If he thinks I did the persuading of her and of you, I would be the one he would be upset with. I would argue that in the longer term it would benefit our family, as I would be able to command a better recompense in my future employment, while we would still make a start on our family. If Georgina later met a man she wanted to marry, her child (I would not say children at the beginning) would simply be ours and she would be free to do as she wished.”

I naturally had no intention of encouraging Georgie to leave us, if ever. I selfishly wanted to have two wives, and children with them both, for many years to come. If Janet worked out with us, then she would make it a wider family group, but I daren’t make that extra assumption yet.