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.The two of you are suitable only for the most menial of tasks.I am sorry I ever befriended you.You have betrayed and belittled.For the rest of your life, I will win and you will lose.Mad, was Nina’s first thought.Totally mad.She wanted to show the letter to someone, but who?She folded it carefully, placing it in a small pocket in her backpack.She’d put it back when she’d decided what to do.Perhaps Old Tom could help.Perhaps Bryn would be able to help.Even Maudie, bless her, might know what to do with the dreadful letter.Bryn, when she showed it to him, hit his hand hard against the shop bench.“I’ve got a letter like that,” he said.“Belittling and threatening.Mine was about refusing to stock salmon.Honestly, I got it in a couple of times and not once did he buy any from me.Not a long enough shelf life to take the risk.He also referred to Miss Clapham in it.”Nina folded the letter carefully.“Do you think Maudie’s got a letter too?”They went to the café, where Laud Mayor himself sat outside drinking his coffee.They walked past him, heads held high, backs straight, not afraid of a man who was a proven bully.Maudie took a coffee and a custard square to a customer, then pulled out a chair.“Sit down for a minute,” she said.Bryn wasted no energy on niceties.“Do you have one of these?” he said.Maudie squinted at the paper, then gasped.“I do,” she said.“It was about cake.”“And was there any mention of anyone else in the letter?”“Miss Clapham,” Maudie said.“I couldn’t figure out what Miss Clapham had to do with cake.Two and two and all,” she said.“It just didn’t add up.”Nina looked at Bryn and Bryn looked at Nina.They smiled at each other, and Maudie, intercepting the look, asked, “What? What are you two smiling at?”“You.” Nina could never stand it when people had a conversation behind their hands about her, so she decided to be honest with Maudie.“We’re laughing about you and your two and twos.It wouldn’t matter how many times you tried to understand your letter, you never would.Just like we’re never going to understand the letters he sent to Bryn, and Mrs Potts, and Miss Clapham.”“You’ve all got letters?” Relief flooded Maudie’s face.“I thought it was just me.I thought I must have done something dreadfully bad.I thought I must deserve his cruel words.”“No one deserves what he’s done,” Bryn said.“You can stop thinking you might be on your way to jail.”“Jail!” Maudie screeched, and Nina kicked Bryn beneath the table.“Is he likely to put me in jail?”“Of course not,” Bryn said.“I was exaggerating.Forget about the jail.”Maudie looked from Nina to Bryn and back to Nina again.“Should I be worried?”“No.” Nina rose to leave.“For now it’s enough to know that we’ve all got dreadful letters.I’m going back to work.”Bryn nearly ran out of the shop, with Nina close on his heels.“You idiot,” she said, laughing.“You know Maudie takes everything literally.”Bryn pushed open the door to Sweet Treats, and followed Nina into the shop.She turned on him, still laughing, promising that when it was all over she’d get him back on Maudie’s behalf.He couldn’t help himself.She was so beautiful, laughing up at him, her eyes sparkling beneath her bonnet.He opened his mouth to speak, but she beat him to it.“What are you doing in here?” she said.“You’ve got to go back to Staceys.There’s work to be done.”“Ah, there’s not a soul besides His Majesty in town,” he said, feeling like he had when he was fourteen.“But you have nails to count and expiry dates to check,” Nina said.“Plenty of work to do.”“Come over this evening.” Bryn nodded as he spoke.“I’ll make dinner.Bring Mrs Potts with you.Maudie makes mean dumplings, and I fancy a lemon meringue pie.”“You’re on,” Nina said.“I’ll bring cauliflower cheesecake.”Bryn looked at her, horrified.“You’ll what?”“Cauliflower cheesecake,” Nina said.“I’ve developed a liking for it.”“You will not,” Bryn said.“Lemon meringue pie is enough.”“Jokes!” Nina shouted after him.“Lemon meringue sounds great.”Chapter 70c.AD 1721, JAPAN: Shogun bans luxuries, including candy, to save money.“Before we go to Bryn’s, there’s something you need to know,” Mrs Potts said.“May I show you something? It’s in your room.”Mrs Potts went directly to the bottom drawer in the chest of drawers.She pulled it out, and flipped through its contents.“It’s here somewhere,” she said.“I know it is.”“Are you talking about this?” Nina held out the crumpled paper.Mrs Potts took the letter, smoothed it out again, read it through from start to finish, then tucked it beneath her watch strap along with the hanky.She hadn’t asked why Nina already had it.A guilty lump filled Nina’s throat.“I heard you fossicking in the drawer,” Mrs Potts said.“The drawer has a little squeak when it is pushed in.”Little squeak indeed, Nina thought.She hadn’t even noticed it.Mrs Potts and her hearing was something else!“The link between me and Miss Clapham and Laud Mayor is not a pleasant one.Marilla and I were once best friends.Certain life circumstances tested our friendship and it is to my shame that I tell you that I treated her badly at a time when she needed a good friend more than anything else in the whole wide world.” Mrs Potts heaved a sigh that would have blown over a vase of flowers if there had been one in sight.“Laud Mayor wooed us both [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]