Read To Cut a Long Story Short (2000) for Free Online

read in the solicitor’s letter.
    Any lingering doubts must have been dispelled when, a few minutes later, the local estate agent appeared on the doorstep, tape measure in hand, with a photographer by his side.
    ‘If Hugh was able to return even part of the hundred thousand I loaned him, that would be most helpful,’ Cornelius remarked to his sister-in-law as he followed her through the
house.
    It was some time before she spoke, despite the fact that she had had all night to consider her response.
    ‘It’s not quite that easy,’ she eventually replied. ‘You see, the loan was made to the company, and the shares are distributed among several people.’
    Cornelius knew all three of the several people. ‘Then perhaps the time has come for you and Hugh to sell off some of your shares.’
    ‘And allow some stranger to take over the company, after all the work we’ve put into it over the years? No, we can’t afford to let that happen. In any case, Hugh asked Mr
Vintcent what the legal position was, and he confirmed that there was no obligation on our part to sell any of our shares.’
    ‘Have you considered that perhaps you have a moral obligation?’ asked Cornelius, turning to face his sister-in-law.
    ‘Cornelius,’ she said, avoiding his stare, ‘it has been your irresponsibility, not ours, that has been the cause of your downfall. Surely you wouldn’t expect your brother
to sacrifice everything he’s worked for over the years, simply to place my family in the same perilous position in which you now find yourself ?’
    Cornelius realised why Elizabeth hadn’t slept the previous night. She was not only acting as spokeswoman for Hugh, but was obviously making the decisions as well. Cornelius had always
considered her to be the stronger-willed of the two, and he doubted if he would come face to face with his brother before an agreement had been reached.
    ‘But if there’s any other way we might help …’ Elizabeth added in a more gentle tone, as her hand rested on an ornate gold-leafed table in the drawing room.
    ‘Well, now you mention it,’ replied Cornelius, ‘I’m putting the house on the market in a couple of weeks’ time, and will be looking for …’
    ‘That soon?’ said Elizabeth. ‘And what’s going to happen to all the furniture?’
    ‘It will all have to be sold to help cover the debts. But, as I said …’
    ‘Hugh has always liked this table.’
    ‘Louis XIV,’ said Cornelius casually.
    ‘I wonder what it’s worth,’ Elizabeth mused, trying to make it sound as if it were of little consequence.
    ‘I have no idea,’ said Cornelius. ‘If I remember correctly, I paid around PS60,000 for it - but that was over ten years ago.’
    ‘And the chess set?’ Elizabeth asked, picking up one of the pieces.
    ‘It’s a worthless copy,’ Cornelius replied. ‘You could pick up a set just like it in any Arab bazaar for a couple of hundred pounds.’
    ‘Oh, I always thought …’ Elizabeth hesitated before replacing the piece on the wrong square. ‘Well, I must be off,’ she said, sounding as if her task had been
completed. ‘We must try not to forget that I still have a business to run.’
    Cornelius accompanied her as she began striding back down the long corridor in the direction of the front door. She walked straight by the portrait of her nephew Daniel. In the past she had
always stopped to remark on how much she missed him.
    ‘I was wondering …’ began Cornelius as they walked out into the hall.
    ‘Yes?’ said Elizabeth.
    ‘Well, as I have to be out of here in a couple of weeks, I hoped it might be possible to move in with you. That is, until I find somewhere I can afford.’
    ‘If only you’d asked a week ago,’ said Elizabeth, without missing a beat. ‘But unfortunately we’ve just agreed to take in my mother, and the only other room is
Timothy’s, and he comes home most weekends.’
    ‘Is that so?’ said Cornelius.
    ‘And the grandfather clock?’ asked