Excerpt
Nora stood there in a pale raincoat and headscarf, a rolled umbrella in one hand, a brown handbag in the other. ‘Hello, Ian,’ she said softly. ‘I hope I’m not disturbing you.’
‘Nora! Come in. No, not at all. How on earth did you find this place? What are you doing in Belfast?’ He closed the door behind them. His first secret thought was that she had left her husband.
‘Just visiting.’ She looked around the room. ‘It’s nice and cosy.’
‘Here, give me those things.’ Ian took her umbrella and handbag and helped her off with her coat.
She untied her scarf and shook her hair loose. ‘I came down to Belfast today to see Dr Hamilton.’
‘There’s nothing wrong, is there?’
‘Oh no.’ Nora sat down in the armchair. ‘He asked me to come and see him some day for an examination. You probably know I’ve had a few seizures in the past, like epileptic fits, and this is one of the things Dr Hamilton is interested in. So I came today.’
‘You picked a rotten day.’
‘I’m afraid so. It was beautiful this morning when I left home.’
‘Did Clifford tell you where I lived?’
‘Yes. I gave the address to a taxi-driver, and he brought me straight to the door. Then a lady downstairs gave me your room number, and here I am. There. You are discovered.’ Nora smiled. ‘I hope you don’t mind.’
‘Nora, if you only but knew how delighted I am. Have you had anything to eat?’
‘No, not yet. Not since lunch with Dr Hamilton.’
‘OK then, why don’t we go out for tea?’
‘I’d love to. As long as you can get me to Ormeau Avenue by eight o’clock. My bus leaves then, and I must be on it. A friend called Kevin Slattery is going to be in Carraghlin tonight and has promised to pick me up at the bus station and drive me home.’
‘And I promise you’ll be on the bus. Have no fears.’
Ian drove through heavy rain to the centre of Belfast and parked the car in a street behind the City Hall. He and Nora rushed round the corner and down a flight of stairs to the basement of a tall, brown, sandstone building. Ian lifted the latch and ushered Nora into a hall with a flagged floor, a couple of old, dark settles and brass ornaments.
‘This way.’ He stood in a doorway, looking into a large dining room. A tall, slim, elegant, grey-haired lady said, ‘This way, please,’ and showed them to a small table under a window.
