Cometh the Hour (The Clifton Chronicles 6)
“Around ten, but I’ll have to buy some clothes before then.”
“We can go shopping this afternoon,” said Giles. He removed his hand and said, “I’ll see you in the Commons at eleven, Harold.”
“And what am I expected to wear until then?” Karin asked once he’d put the phone down.
The butler coughed.
“Yes, Markham?”
“Mrs. Clifton always leaves a change of clothes in the guest bedroom, sir, in case of an emergency.”
&
nbsp; “This is unquestionably an emergency,” said Giles, taking Karin by the hand and leading her out of the room.
“Won’t she object?” asked Karin as they climbed the stairs to the first floor.
“It’s difficult to object to something you don’t know about.”
“Perhaps you should call her?”
“I have a feeling Emma might be doing something a little more important than worrying about which clothes she left in London,” said Giles as he opened the door to the guest bedroom.
Karin pulled open a large wardrobe to find not one, but several suits and dresses, not to mention a rack of shoes she would never have seen in a worker’s cooperative.
“Come and join me downstairs once you’re ready,” said Giles. He spent the next forty minutes trying to finish the morning papers, while being regularly interrupted by phone calls offering congratulations or trying to arrange interviews. He even found the odd moment to speculate about why Harold Wilson wanted to see him.
“Mr. Clifton is on the line, sir,” said Markham, passing him the phone once again.
“Harry, how are you?”
“I’m fine, but having read the morning papers, I’m just calling to find out how you are after escaping from the Germans a second time.”
Giles laughed. “Never better.”
“I presume being reunited with Miss Pengelly is the cause of you sounding so pleased with yourself.”
“Got it in one. As well as being beautiful, Karin’s the most delightful, kind, thoughtful and considerate creature I’ve ever met.”
“Isn’t it a little early to be making such an unequivocal judgment?” suggested Harry.
“No. This time, I’ve really struck gold.”
“Let’s hope you’re right. And how do you feel about the press describing you as a cross between Richard Hannay and Douglas Bader?”
“I see myself more as Heathcliff,” said Giles, laughing.
“So when are we going to be allowed to meet this paragon?”
“We’ll be driving down to Bristol on Friday evening, so if you and Emma are free for lunch on Saturday—”
“Sebastian’s coming down on Saturday, and Emma’s hoping to talk to him about taking over as chairman. But you’re welcome to join us.”
“No, I think I’ll skip that, but why don’t you all come over to the Hall for lunch on Sunday?”
“Isn’t that putting a little too much pressure on Karin?” said Harry.
“When you’ve been living under a Communist regime for most of your life, I don’t think you’d consider having lunch with the Cliftons as pressure.”