Fast Fiction: Edgar Villiers
'What are you reading?' she asked. It was a question the elderly man hated. He usually gave an evasive reply such as, 'Oh, a very obscure work by a Swede.'... Who is this well-dressed woman who questions Edgar Villiers in the hotel lounge? Richard Mallinson's story brings a surprise answer.
The elderly man reading a book in the corner of the hotel lounge did not took up as Jenny Statton came in. He had no wish to indulge in chit-chat.
Soon he would be going out for a stroll on the promenade. He knew that he would relish the windswept front and the sea as usual.
These days he wanted most things to be 'as usual.'
He went on with his reading.
'Good morning,' said Jenny brightly.
The man muttered, 'Good morning to you.'
After that he felt obliged to raise his eyes.
The woman he saw was 51 but looked younger.
'What are you reading?’ she asked. It was a question the elderly man hated. He usually gave an evasive reply such as, 'Oh, a very obscure work by a Swede.'
This time, however, he surprised himself by saying straight out, 'Historians I Have Known, by A L Rowse.'
'Ugh,' said Jenny, 'I don't know how you can stand Rowse.'
The man said, 'He's one of my favourite historians.’
She felt like saying, 'He never used to be.'
Politely, Villiers asked, 'Are you are connected with history in any way?'
'I used to teach it,' she said, 'then I got married and -'
He rather liked her. She was candid and well-dressed and had such glossy black hair. But surely there was something familiar about her?
Hadn't he met her before?
He began to read again. A minute or so later he looked up. The woman was taking a book out of her bag - The Last Days Of Gladstone, by Edgar Villiers.
Jenny saw him staring.
'Yes, I'm re-reading your book,' she said with a smile. "I was one of your students when it first came out. You almost broke my heart. . . Have you written any others recently? ‘
