Read Buried in Cornwall for Free Online Page B

andshaved. He greeted their guests whilst keeping an eye on Stella who was now chain-smoking. He liked the Phillips. Mike was a surgeon at Treliske hospital in Truro and his wife worked there as a physiotherapist. Rose Trevelyan was another woman he admired, and not only for her looks. She was a survivor. He wondered how Stella would fare if she did not have his constant support.
    Maddy was the last to arrive. Her accent instantly placed her as an ‘outsider’, as someone from the Home Counties who had moved to Cornwall in search of the simple life, where she believed her dreamy manner and craftwork would be more appreciated. Having arrived only three years ago she was still considered to be an outsider, although she had made friends amongst the locals. Barbara, never less than elegant, smiled at Maddy’s chosen ensemble. Over thick black tights she wore brown lace-up boots and a billowing smock in royal blue with embroidery across the tight-fitting chestband which flattened her curves. Beneath the smock was a striped T-shirt in olive green and white, over it a quilted jacket in squares of differing colours. On her head was a Paddington Bear hat with a large red flower stitched to the side. Long hair cloaked hershoulders. It was fair with a slight wave but of the dryish texture which did not shine even when newly washed. She resembled a character in a nursery rhyme.
    Stella, a cigarette balanced in the corner of her mouth, replenished their drinks. Rose put her hand over her glass. ‘Not for me, thanks.’
    ‘Sure? Okay. I’m beginning to feel better already, Rose. You wouldn’t believe what these evenings do to me.’
    Rose nodded. Stella didn’t know how lucky she was to be hosting one. Turning to speak to Barbara and Mike, acquaintances once, then firm friends from the start of David’s illness when Mike had been his consultant and Rose’s confidant, she studied Maddy Duke. Rose had met her at Stella’s on several occasions and had found her to be amusing company, if a little zany, but beneath her cheerful exterior Rose guessed there was hidden pain.
    Daniel circulated with the wine bottles but Rose told him she was saving her rationed second glass for the official opening.
    ‘How’s it going?’ Mike Phillips, in causal trousers, shirt and sweater, finally got a chance to speak to Rose. He looked tired.
    ‘I’m fine.’
    ‘I can see you’re fine, I meant the painting. Your oil has pride of place in our lounge. Did Barbara tell you?’
    ‘No. I’m flattered.’
    ‘How typical. We’re the ones who’re flattered. We had no idea you were that good.’
    ‘Hidden talent,’ Maddy said, joining them with a glass containing what appeared to be neat Scotch. ‘I bet we don’t know of half the local painters with hidden talents.’
    ‘We?’ Jenny had joined them. By her tone it was obvious she resented Maddy counting herself as one of them.
    ‘I do think of myself as local, you know. I felt at home from the minute I came here.’
    Rose sensed an animosity which she had not noticed between the two women before.
    Jenny chewed the inside of her lip but said nothing. Instead she played with her thick black hair, which hung around her face like a frame. Her skin was good and her eyes were large and luminescent but it was her mouth which attracted. Full and pink, it hinted at both innocence and sensuality. She was about to move away and speak to Stella when Maddy asked Rose how Nick was. Jenny hesitated, her shoulders stiff. Rose replied that she had no reason to suppose he was otherthan well, but she had seen the give-away gesture and guessed that there had once been something between Nick and Jenny – and still might be, she thought, not liking the feeling this produced although she and Nick were no more than friends and there was certainly no commitment on either side. She decided to ignore her feelings and enjoy the rest of the evening although she continued to be aware of the vaguely hostile undercurrents