Swift was battered by this gale of information. The dynamics of the Brinkworths’ marriage sounded intricate. He rallied and managed, ‘Best of luck with it all, I admire you.’
‘Thank you. I appreciate that.’
He finished his coffee. ‘Would you say that Afan is happy here?’
She blinked at the change of subject. ‘That’s an odd question.’
‘Is it? As you all see a fair amount of each other, I assumed you’d have a view.’
‘Oh, right — well, he seems happy. He’s never looked unhappy. He’s one of those level-seeming people, unflappable, a man who doesn’t really show emotion. Not like me, I wear my heart on my sleeve. I cry at the least thing, don’t I, Fwankie? Old films, EastEnders, any of those programmes about finding lost family. Guy says I’m like a tap. Still, we can’t all be the same, can we?’
Swift agreed that this was the case.
‘Mind you,’ Elinor carried on, ‘I’m not as bad as Bruno. You can never tell if he’s going to smile or bite your head off. I shouldn’t really say that, because he has depression, but it can be difficult, gauging his moods. There’s been times when he’s really upset me. I’ve only been checking he’s okay and he’s snapped, told me to lay off. Guy says it’s my own fault, and I worry too much about other people. I suppose it’s my maternal instinct expressing itself. Bruno takes medication of course, so most of the time his illness is under control and working with the bees must be very soothing.’
She stopped speaking as Kat Glover clumped in, wearing a khaki body warmer over a short-sleeved checked shirt. She made a beeline for Swift.
‘Any news of Afan?’
‘No, unless he’s phoned the landline here.’
She shook her head. ‘I checked it. I made sure the answerphone was switched on last night.’ She sighed heavily. ‘I checked my place carefully as well, in case he’d left me a note and I’d missed it. Whatever’s happened, he must have been in too much of a hurry to tell me.’ She twisted a pigtail around her finger.
Swift was impressed by her well-developed biceps, which were on show this morning. Her eyes were red and watery, and he wondered if she’d been crying. He stood and cleared his breakfast things from the table.
‘I’ll stay around for a couple of days. I’ll make sure it’s okay with Jasmine.’
Elinor fluttered her fingers at him. ‘Of course it will be, won’t it, Fwankie? Jasmine loves visitors. We all do.’
Chapter 5
The Merchants’ house was also called Tir Melys, giving its name to the land. Swift went to lift the heavy brass knocker on the door, but paused as he heard their raised, angry voices through an open window. Mainly Jasmine shouting the odds, with Peter sounding cross but resigned.
‘What else can we do, Peter? You haven’t come up with any better ideas and we’ve been talking about it long enough. The bank won’t lend to us and even if we found one that would, the kind of interest they’d charge would be crippling. Giles is going to need the help and soon, if he’s going to sort this bloody mess out.’
‘But I love this house. I’ve devoted my heart and soul to it. We’ve put down roots here. I don’t see why Giles can’t sort himself out. It’s not as if he ever comes here or takes any interest in us. This will cause so much upset and bad feeling . . .’
‘This is a business as well as our home, when all’s said and done, not a charity. We have to put our family first and make a decision. You’d procrastinate till the cows come home.’
‘This is awful. What will people say? Such an upheaval!’
‘Yes, it is awful, but don’t make me into the bad cop here. We just have to face facts. Giles needs the help, and we don’t have a lot of choice.’
As soon as he knocked, silence fell. After a good half minute, Peter Merchant opened the door, said hello and asked him in. As they entered the kitchen, Jasmine was stuffing paperwork into a
