Chapter 23

We left, and I said to Sally:

"Would you mind if we just called in at a Barclays, I want to move some money from a deposit account into my current account, so that if all does go well, I can give them the deposit immediately. I think there's one just up the road. After I've been to the bank, do you fancy some lunch?"

"I wouldn't mind just a light snack, or something. I'm not a great one for eating much at lunch-time. Look, as we're not seeing this Mrs Shelby until three thirty, and it's only half past twelve, why don't you go to the Bank, and then we'll head back to Fleet, and either eat somewhere on the way, or we could pick something up and eat at home."

"That sounds good. While we're on the subject of eating, where do you fancy this evening?"

"Do you have any restaurants you particularly favour?"

"The one I go to most often in the evenings is only ten minutes walk from home. It isn't very flash, but they do a very good steak, and their seafood is always very good. I had thought of going to the golf club, but I'd rather be somewhere I can keep my mobile turned on, in case Barbara rings."

"Yes, they said the dining room at the golf club is very good. Look, why not ring up and book a table for tomorrow night, then we can either celebrate, or drown our sorrows with good wine."

"That's an excellent idea. What would you think of asking Lydia to join us, as a thank you for putting us in touch with Barbara, or would you prefer it were just the two of us?"

"I'd prefer just the two of us, of course, but I think that it would be very appropriate to ask Lydia, particularly if we have good news to share with her, but even if not. Let's do that."

By this time we were outside the bank, and I went in and made the transfer to put plenty of money in my current account, and then we went back to the car. I suggested that we had a bite in the pub just round the corner from my house, and Sally was happy with this, so we drove straight home.

"Lunch first, or book for tonight and tomorrow night first?"

"You do the booking, I'll make us a coffee."

I rang to book for that evening first, and had no difficulty doing so, but I wouldn't have wanted to just turn up on a Friday night. In the past, I'd often been disappointed when I'd done so. Then I rang the golf club, and asked if I could book a table for the following evening.

"I'll just put you through to the dining room," I was told.

"Hello, dining room, how may I help you?"

"Could I book a table for tomorrow evening please?"

"Are you a member, sir?"

"Yes, Peter McKenzie."

"Certainly sir, for how many?"

"Definitely two, possibly three, I will be able to be certain later."

That's quite all right, sir, either two or three will be convenient, just let us know as soon as you arrive at the club tomorrow evening. What time will you be arriving?"

"About half past seven, I should think, is that OK?"

"Yes, that would be quite all right, sir."

"Thank you, can you transfer me back to Reception, please?"

"By all means."

"Hello, reception."

"Would you put me through to Mrs Blackwell please."

"I'm sorry, sir, she's out on the course."

"Have you any idea when she will be finished?"

"She went out at about ten, so she should be off the course between half past one and two. Would you like me to ask her to ring you."

"Yes please. If it's convenient for her, would you ask her to ring me, Peter McKenzie on my mobile?" I gave her the number.

"Certainly, Mr McKenzie, Is there anything else?"

"No, thank you. Bye, bye."

I told Sally what I had done as we drank our coffee.

"Peter, did you need to offer to buy all of their furniture? I've got quite a lot in my house, and we could bring that down here, and replace it with cheaper stuff to rent the place."

"Well, I thought that offering to buy all of it might be an inducement for them to sell, and if they do, I thought that we would move down here anything you wanted to bring here, replace it from this house, and then, if there was anything else we needed here, we'd buy new. In the end, we'll have a house fully furnished combining what you want to bring from your house, what we want to keep from this one, and new stuff, and your house would be fully furnished for letting, and none of the furniture there would matter to you."

"That sounds just about perfect. I know I want to bring most of my bedroom furniture, and I'll ask Lucy what she wants to bring, after she's seen what's here, and there may be some things Angie might like — although I expect she'd rather buy her own things."

"I wasn't all that struck on any of the furniture in the annex. I thought we might let the girls furnish it themselves. Let them decide what they want to bring, and then let them buy the rest. What do you think?"

"They'd love that. I think we ought to set them a budget though, not just let them go mad."

"I agree, but you'll have to decide what you think is reasonable to allow them, I've no idea what would be right. Perhaps we could decide on an amount and then let them decide what to bring. What do you think?"

"I think the best thing would be to discuss it with them both, and see what they say, and let them come up with costings for everything they want to buy. Make them do a bit of work. Do them good."

"Shall we go round to the pub and have a snack then?"

"Yes, I'm getting a bit peckish."

We got back from the pub at about a quarter to two, and just as we walked in the door, my mobile rang.

"Hello, Peter McKenzie."

"Hello, Peter, it's Lydia Blackwell, is there a problem?"

"Not yet, Lydia. Barbara Weston has been very helpful, and showed us a lovely house, but the owners don't want to sell for a few months, and we don't want to have to rent while we wait for it, so I've made them an offer I hope they can't refuse. But that is by the way. I've booked a table for dinner at the golf club tomorrow night, and we wondered if you would like to join us, to celebrate or commiserate."

"That's very kind, I'd love to. What time were you thinking of?"

"I've said we'd be there at seven thirty, would that suit you? We're not in any way tied to that."

"That would be fine. I'll see you here in the lounge at seven thirty then. Thank you very much, I look forward to it."

I told Sally that Lydia had accepted our invitation, and then suggested that this might be a convenient time to go and fetch my car from the golf club where we had left it the previous evening. She agreed, so off we went.

At the entrance barrier, I showed my membership card, and said who I was, and the gate-keeper welcomed us to the club — he obviously knew we were new members.

"Shall we stop for a drink, Sally?"

"I think it might be unwise, Peter. If we do, and start talking to anyone, we would have to leave fairly soon, which might appear rude. I'd rather wait until we have more time, we'll be here tomorrow night, anyway."

"Fine. I'll just go in and collect my keys from reception then. We've time to go home and leave one of the cars there before we go and see Mrs Shelby. Do you want to carry on back there now?"

"I'll just make sure you get your keys all right, and that your car starts. I don't know why it shouldn't, but I'd hate you to be stuck here."

"OK. I'll be right back."

I collected my keys from Reception, my car did start, and we were soon back home again.

"Just time for a cup of tea before we go out again." I said. "Sit down and I'll make it this time."

When I brought the tea in, Sally was sitting in the chair opposite to the one I normally sat in, so I took my accustomed place.

"We seem to have been on the go almost continuously since we went out this morning," I said. "It's nice to sit down, and even nicer to have you opposite to me. If I thought that I'd be staying here very long, and you'd be visiting from time to time, I'd invest in a settee so that I could put my arm round you."

"If we weren't going out in a few minutes, I'd come and sit on your knee, or else take you upstairs, but if I come and sit with you now, we'd have to separate again too quickly, and I'm not fond of being interrupted in such circumstances."

"You can have your evil way with me after we've seen Mrs Shelby if you wish."

"I do most definitely wish."

"Good, I've been longing all day to know what you are wearing under your skirt."

"Couldn't you tell when you stroked my pussy in the car?"

"I'm fairly sure — assuming that you are wearing some of the undies I bought you but I can't be certain. Are you going to show me now?"

"What a disgraceful suggestion to make to a lady. Do you think that I show my knickers just because some gorgeous man asks me to?"

"I live in hope."

"You'll have to hope a little longer. What I will say, is that when I looked at myself in the mirror when I put them on, I thought that they looked delightful. I must say that they feel very comfortable, I'm glad Angie gave you my sizes so accurately, even though I never expected to receive such a splendid present when I arrived. You are far too generous to me, Peter."

"Nonsense, I don't think I could ever be generous enough to you, my love. Besides, think of the pleasure I obtained when I was deciding what to order in the first place, visualizing you wearing what I saw in the catalogue, and then the greater pleasure of seeing you actually wearing them."

"Thank you, Peter, you do say the nicest things, as well as buy the loveliest lingerie. However, I think it's time we went, isn't it?"

We arrived on time to see Mrs Shelby and were shown straight in to see her.

After the usual preliminaries of introducing ourselves, I explained that the house, or property as Barbara would have said was not on the market, and we didn't even know if the owners would sell.

"However, I have made an offer, subject to satisfactory survey. I have offered one point three five million, plus another fifty thousand for all the contents of the house except their personal possessions. I know that's a bit vague, and I'm sure that you will be able to express it correctly." I smiled, and she nodded. "The offer is contingent on our being able to take possession within one month from today. It is important to us to be able to move as soon as possible. I emphasized that time is of the essence in this transaction, and I would wish you to stress this when dealing with their solicitor. I expect to have a decision by tomorrow morning as to whether they will sell or not. Would you be prepared to act for us?"

"Certainly. I assume that Mrs Weston will be able to give me all the information I need, address, vendors' solicitor — if they do become vendors — and so on. I've dealt with her several times before, and she is very efficient."

"Yes, I'm sure that she will be able to do so. It was she that recommended you to us."

"Well, there is nothing that I can do at the moment of course, but as soon as I know that the owners will sell, I will proceed with the requisite haste. I see no reason why we can't complete in time, provided that they are also willing to expedite."

"I hope they will, and I would like you, in all correspondence where you think appropriate, to keep on stressing that my offer is only on the table if the time scale can be met. I have also said that I would give them a deposit of forty thousand pounds if they sell. Can this be paid to them rather than to their solicitor? The reason I suggest this, is that they will need to rent somewhere, and I would not want a snag to arise because they lack the ready cash for a deposit or anything. I have no idea what their circumstances are."