Chapter 7: The Grand Prize

Edith stopped us before either sister sat on the drawing-room sofa.

"That one's for visiting," she said.

Audrey looked at the empty cushions.

"We're visiting," she answered.

"Important visiting," Edith clarified.

I stayed standing beside the armrest.

The sofa had a rope across its front.

It wasn't strong enough to restrain anybody who really wanted a seat.

"Who sits there?" I asked.

"Nobody lately," Edith admitted.

She lifted the rope and let us through.

Audrey sat at one end and patted the cushion beside her.

I sat with her.

Edith watched the sofa survive.

Then she sat in the chair opposite without asking anybody's permission.

"This room would be part of it," she told us.

"The house?" Audrey asked.

Edith nodded.

"We've been thinking about the next generation."

She looked at me, then at Audrey.

Audrey folded her hands between her knees.

"There are two of us," she reminded her.

"Yes," Edith said.

She said it fondly, which made the rest more difficult to hear.

"One house," she added.

I looked at the rope lying across the rug.

"Could two people have it?" I asked.

Edith considered that, then shook her head.

"Too many competing ideas," she said.

Audrey's eyebrows rose, but she didn't speak.

Edith got up to show us the adjoining room.

A long dining table filled most of it.

Protective covers hid every chair except the one by the window.

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