Prude & Prejudice (7 page)

“Well, what do you have to say for yourself this time?”

“What do you mean “this time?
”
You act like I get drunk and make an idiot of myself every weekend.
”

“
W
ho
among
us
can forge
t the
day you and your delinquent
friends got drunk i
n the park and mooned the vicar?
”

“I was sixteen years old. That was a decade ago.”

“And I’m still living it down.”

“
I’m sorry
,
Mum, I messed up, but I’m sure there
’s no harm done. William Darling
probably won’t even remember what I said to him.”

“No harm done? You told the man
that he and everyone in his company are
not welcome in this town because they are destroying our way of life.
You said you were going to take a stand and drive them out.
F
rom what I heard he was mortally
offended.” Prue put her hand to her head.

“
Oh
g
od, t
his is
so
mortifying.”

“Do I have to remind you
,
Prudence,
that these are our most valued customers, that they have come along at a
time when we desperately need
the
business,
and
that because of them w
e w
ere finally looking at paying down some of our debt and getting ahead. N
ow you h
ave gone and jeopardised it all with your stupid drunken behaviour.
”

“I said I’m sorry. What’s done is done, there’s nothing I can do to change it now.”

“There certainly is. You will go around to the office first thin
g on Monday morning and apologis
e.”

“I’ll do nothing of the sort! Wh
y should I apologis
e to that man when
his views a
re far more offensive than mine?
At least
I had the excuse of being drunk. I’ve heard him say much
worse things when he was completely sober.
And you should be thankful I didn’t mention anything about his racism or the other things I’ve since found out about him.
”
Prue could see
her mothe
r’s resolve
to be harsh
waver at the mention of
gossip, but to her credit she stood firm.

“I’m not asking you to do it
,
Prue, it’s an order.
”

“I have news for you
,
Mum,
I’m not ten years old anymore. You can’t order me around like a child, and I will not
be forced into doing something which is completely abhorrent to me.”

Her mother
appraised her for a moment. “For someone who fi
nds it so disgusting when
other
people express their opinions
about
outsiders
, you sure seem to
have very str
ong views when your territory
is invaded
.
Maybe next time you won’t be so quick to judge others
for feeling the same way.”
Prue had been hoping her mother would not make the obvious connection and call
her on her hypocrisy, and
there was no way she was going to
admit she was right
.

“This is c
ompletely different.
I’m not a racist, I just got angry because they were so rude and they did not seem to care that we were locals and this has been our pub for a long time.”

Her father
, who had been sitting in the corner keeping out of it, put his book down
. “Maybe
a lot of what we call
racism is
more
about fear
of change
than the colour of people’s skin
.
Something to think about, isn’t it?”

“
Maybe
,” she mumbled, “B
ut that doesn’
t change my opinion of William
Darling
. He
is an arrogant, narrow-minded fool
, and there’s nothing on this planet tha
t could make me apologis
e to that man.
Nothing
.”

****

“So I just wanted to tell you that I’m sorry, I was way out of line and I didn’t mean anything I said. You and your employees and their friends and
extended
families are
very
welcome in this town
.
You can play
your
techno music wherever and whenever you like.”

“That’s very magnanimous of you. I’ll be sure to send a memo a
round letting everyone know that we can
cancel the pl
ans to return to
London,”
replied William
Darling
in mock seriousness
.
Charles
Br
adley, who was sitting beside him,
cleared his throat
, and shifted in hi
s chair, and Prue could tell he
was trying
hard not to laugh. She looked
William
Darling
directly
in the face
to show she was not in the least concerned with his pathetic jokes at her expense, and saw the
mischievous
glint
in his eye
. It only made her despise him even more
.

“Well
,
that’s all I wanted to say. I’d better get back to the café now.”  Despite
her vow that she would
never lower herself to apologis
e
to such a despicable person
, Prue
h
ad
not been able to sleep
at
all the night before. H
er mother’s words had kept replaying in her head as she tossed and turned in her bed.
She could not be responsible for her family lo
sing such an important client, and she w
ould never for
give herself if the business went backwards
because of her stupidity. Swallowing he
r pride
to make the apology
had been one of the hardest things she’d had to do in a while
and now she just wanted to get away from here
.
As s
he stood up
to depart Charles
Bradley put a hand on her arm.

“Wait a moment. Cate left so quickly the other night that I didn’t get a chance to ask her to my party
next weekend
.”
They both knew Cate had left so quickly because
she was carrying
Prue out the door. “I know you’re
catering it, but I just thought that you
girls
might want to s
t
ay on afterwards, as my guests.
There will be
a lot of young people there
.
”

“
That’s very nice of you, especially in the circumstances. I’ll let Cate know.”

“Thanks
, I think you’ll enjoy yourselves
.”
As she walked back to the café, Prue
wondered why on earth
Charles Bradley
bothered
to associate with the likes of William
Darling
.
He seemed so decent
and he
certainly admired
her sister
. Maybe he did not know about his
business partner’s
despicable views
or two-timing ways,
but
Darling
had expressed his opinions
on immigration so openly
at the function
that they
hardly seemed like a secret.

“So
, did you manage to salvage what’s left of our reputation in this town or did you drive our name even deeper into the
mud?” said her mother when Prue
returned to the café
and donned an
apron
in the kitchen
to start her
shift
waiting tables
.

“Everything is fine
,
Mum. Mr
Darling
seemed to think the whole thing was a joke
, and
Charles
Bradley invited us to the party as guests, after we’ve finished with the catering.”

Her mother clapped her hands together
with excitement.
“Really?
T
hat’s just lovely. H
e is a wonderful
man
,
isn’t he?
I hope Cate doesn’t let this one get away
.
There’s only one problem,
I don’t have a thing t
o wear
. Do you think it will be dressy or casual?
”

“Mum, I don’t think he meant…
..
.
Oh, never mind.”
Despite the extreme aggravati
on her m
other had caused her over the last few
days
, Prue did no
t hav
e the heart to ruin her
happy
mood.
She was
also
in a good humour
so rarely
that it w
as best to make the most of it
while it
lasted
.

“Did you hear that Cate? We
’ve been invited to
Charles
Bradley’
s party
as guests
after we finish work
,
”
said
Mrs
Higginbottom
when Cate came through the
swinging doors from the café.

“
All of us?
That’s nice,” said Cate, putting the tray she was carrying on the kitc
hen bench. “Table four want
ice-water, and they’ll be ready to order soon.”

“I think it was Cate he re
ally
wanted to invite
but he couldn’t get out of inviting the rest of us without looking rude
. He seems to like you a lot
,” said Prue teasingly
.
”
Oh, look
,
she’s actually blushing.”

“
Who likes who a lot?
” said
Alice
, taking off her jacket
and dropping her school bag
as she stepped in the door.

“
Charles
Bradley is in love with Cate,” said their mother.

“He is not in love with me
, M
other! Don’t you dare go around saying things like
that.
We just had a nice time together a
t the pub the other night
, that’s all
. I’m getting back to work now, and I suggest you all do the same before we have no customers left.”
The door swung closed behind her and the three w
omen all looked at each other
and grinned
. It was u
nlike Cate to be so sensitive about
a man
. She never took romance seriously and was the first one to make a joke when anyone showed interest in her. I
t seemed
Mr
Bradley’
s feelings
were not completely one-side
d
.

“She loves him too,” said th
eir mother and they burst
into laughter.

****

It was unseasonably warm on the night of
Charles
Bradley’s p
arty. His house was a
Georgian mansion
which had
been lovingly restored it to its former glory by the previous owner.
Rumour had it
Mr Bradley
had fallen in love with the house
on sight
and this was behind his decision to relocate the business
to
Merryton
.
As
they drove up the long, curving drive
Prue took in the sweep
ing
law
ns and imposing house and she imagined
what the parties must have been like
here
two
hundred years
ago.