The Room on the Second Floor. T Williams A

be some strings attached to such a wonderful legacy, but he found all these legal complications distasteful. The words of his very own St Bernard, in a letter from Italy to those left behind at his beloved Abbey of Clairvaux, came to mind. …I suffer also from being obliged to move in affairs that trouble the peace of my soul…

      Roger definitely felt that Mr Kevin Jennings was troubling his own inner peace but still, Heslop seemed up to the task. Mercifully, the rents from the properties in London were generating far more money than he could possibly spend. Let battle commence, he would tell the solicitor. As long as it did not affect him, or the peace of his soul. The thought of soul mates prompted him to raise his eyes towards Linda, who was looking serene and happy. His own mood immediately improved.

      ‘So what are you offering me this evening?’

      She wanted so badly to reply, ‘Anything you desire.’ But she settled for, ‘Something a bit more straightforward than lobster.’

       Chapter 11

      Duggie and Tina were also dining together that evening. Both were enjoying the occasion. In fact, to Duggie’s surprise, he and Tina seemed to enjoy most things together. Twice married and twice divorced, he had vowed several years earlier to avoid any further serious relationships. He could barely afford his first divorce, let alone the second. A third would spell total financial disaster. Of course, after Roger’s slice of good fortune, and his own subsequent rise in economic status, things on the financial front were now greatly improved. He leaned across the remains of the Gambas au Cognac and addressed her face, rather than her cleavage. This was a trick he was gradually mastering as the weeks went by.