185 wivesbehavingbadly

was the real nathan the man who color - coded his files ? who said we have to be careful with  money .  the man who longed to put on a worn pair of jeans and battterred boots and walked the cliffs above priac bay ? or was he the man who propped himself on his elbow and searched unsuccessfully for the words to explain how happy he felt ?
" rose . i've madee a decision . nathan will be buried in altringham . i thought it better hre be somewhere where he was known , where he won't be alone ."
" oh , minty ." rose was almost inaudible ." thank you ."
barely a half hour later , poppy was  on the phone . she was hostile and cold and i no less so . about the hymns , minty . dad's favorite was ' inmmortal , invisible ." we ahould start with that . he was vey particular about  hymns ."
" was he ?"
" you wouldn't know , perhaps , you don't need hymns when he married you . and ' love , divine , all loves excelling ' to finish with ."
i groped  for a dim memory of various weddings , i had attened with nathan when those hymns had been sung ." i don't think he liked either of them , he thought they were boring ."
but poppy had appointed herself keeper of her father's flame , and in this matter  she was not to be denied . her voice trembled ." i think we're the ones to know what dad liked or disliked ..."
during the first verse of " immortal , invisible ." sam bent his head and wept , jilly slid her hand unobtrusively under his elbow and pressed closer . he edged away from her and blew his nose , jilly dropped her hand and stared straight ahead .