your life? Guilt and love, so inextricably entwined, they could not be separated.
Frustrated by Lady Isobel’s refusal to sell, George turned his attention to other ways of making money, and the proposed refurbishment of Melsham market was just the thing. It was still the thriving centre of the town, but the buildings were grimy, the tarmac worn so that the old cobbles were showing through in places, the fascia boards on the shops a higgledy-piggledy mess of hieroglyphics and ill-matched colours. There were no seats, the fountain was often turned off and the water in the pool was full of debris. A place needed to look bright and prosperous to attract investment. And that would be his argument for spending money on it and, if he was canny, a good proportion of the work would come his way.
The idea had come to him when he saw what the film-makers had done, putting up temporary Victorian facades over the shops and buildings round the market, which had changed the whole character of the place. Everyone had said how quaint and charming it looked. Unfortunately most of it was only boarding and had been removed when the film was finished and the town had gone back to its mishmash of old and new. George wanted to restore the Victorian ambience on a permanent basis.
‘The present proposal doesn’t go nearly far enough,’ he told Tony Bartram, chairman of General Purposes, when they met at The Crown and ordered a beer each. ‘The whole area needs paving, York stone, red brick, something classy. What’s there now is an insult, and the fountain is a disgrace. The traders could have uniform striped awnings.’
‘They’ll be against it if it means they pay more for their pitches.’ Bartram, rotund and balding, took a swig from his glass. ‘All they’re concerned with is having the surface tidied up, so there are no puddles when it rains. And the ratepayers will say there are other priorities for their money.’
‘We could get private funding for some of it. I have already approached Landers and they have agreed to provide a percentage, and I reckon some of the town’s other businesses could be persuaded to contribute. They stand to gain and they won’t want to be upstaged by Landers. It’s all down to good publicity.’ He smiled as a new idea struck him. ‘We could hold a competition for the design of a new fountain, something befitting. We don’t have to accept any of the designs, but it will give the public an interest, keep them off our backs…’
‘That’s a bit cynical, isn’t it?’
He laughed. ‘Realistic. You and I know we’d never get anything done if we had to have universal approbation first. I have only the interests of the town and population of Melsham at heart, Tony, you know that.’
‘Oh, that goes without saying.’
The man’s sarcasm was not lost on George but he decided not to comment. ‘I want Melsham put on the map, made a place to be proud of. All I want you to do is back an amendment.’
‘OK, I’ll sound everyone out and see if we can get it on the agenda.’
George walked back to his office with a jaunty step, smiling to himself. He rang his solicitor and made an appointment to see him, then he summoned Donald Browning to his office.
His attitude towards Donald was ambivalent. On the surface he treated him like a friend and trusted employee, but that trust had been severely dented over Virginia, though it had never been spoken of aloud. Since her death they had rubbed along because each needed the other. Donald was his general factotum, held the fort when he was out making deals or on council business and generally kept his suppliers off his back.
‘Sit down, Donald.’ George had been standing by the window with his back to the room, staring out at the leaden sky, but now he turned and, going to a cupboard behind his desk, fetched out a bottle and a couple of glasses. ‘Whisky?’
‘Thanks. It’s bitterly cold out.’
George poured two generous tots and handed one to Donald who had seated himself in the chair facing the desk and was chewing his moustache, a sure sign he was nervous. Usually he was left to get on with his work and only met George on a strictly business basis when there was a management meeting or some strategy to be worked out, involving the whole group. But drinking together became a thing of the past