From rainy England…

Katie never imagined her life was perfect. But when she finds herself on a rainy street, soaked to the bone and with only a cheating boyfriend and a dead-end job keeping her in town, she knows something has to change. Which is what leads her to Iddlescombe Manor, to be companion to Victoria Chalker-Pyne – the only 25-year-old Katie’s ever met who hasn’t heard of Twitter, thinks girdles are de rigueur, and desperately needs an education in the 21st century!

…to the Tuscan sun!

But it wouldn’t be an education without a summer holiday – and where better than Tuscany? Decamping to Victoria’s family villa, it’s soon clear that this place really does have it all: sun, sea…and some seriously gorgeous neighbours. The only question is: when the weather’s this hot, the wine is this smooth and the men are this irresistible…will Katie ever want to make the journey home?

Don’t miss deliciously funny romance What Happens in Tuscany… the perfect escape for fans of Fern Britton and Veronica Henry.

Praise for When Alice Met Danny

‘This is a brilliant story! I would recommend this book to anybody that likes a fun, laid back read that keeps you hooked!‘–5* from Emma’s Reviews

‘T A Williams creates a stunning book with wonderful characters. When Alice Met Danny is the perfect summer read. Beautifully written with a touch of humour. It is one book I plan to read over and over.’ – Elder Park Book Reviews

Also by T A Williams:

Dirty Minds

The Room on the Second Floor

When Alice Met Danny

What Happens in Tuscany…

T A Williams

Copyright

HQ

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2015

Copyright © Trevor Williams 2015

Trevor Williams asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

E-book Edition © June 2015 ISBN: 9781474028332

Version date: 2018-07-23

TREVOR WILLIAMS

lives in Devon with his Italian wife. He lived and worked in Switzerland, France and Italy, before returning to run one of the best-known language schools in the UK. He has taught people from all over the world, among them Arab princes, Brazilian beauty queens and Italian billionaires. He speaks a number of languages and has travelled extensively. He has eaten snake, live fish and alligator. A Spanish dog, a Russian bug and a Korean parasite have done their best to eat him in return. He has written historical novels, humorous books and thrillers. His hobby is long-distance cycling, but his passion is writing. You can follow him on Twitter, @TAWilliamsBooks, find him on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TrevorWilliamsBooks or visit his website: www.tawilliamsbooks.com

Contents

Cover

Blurb

Book List

Praise for

Title Page

Copyright

Author Bio

Acknowledgements

Dedication

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Extract

Endpages

About the Publisher

With thanks, as ever, to my editor, Clio Cornish

To Christina and Mariangela with love

Prologue

Katie sat in the lounge by the entrance to the fancy restaurant for almost half an hour, waiting in vain for Dean to turn up. On Jenny’s advice, and against her better judgement, she had chosen to take him out for an expensive dinner to celebrate his birthday. The hope was that maybe, just maybe, this might inject some romance, or at least some interest into their relationship. As eight o’clock came and went without sight of him, and the rather forbidding maître d’hôtel started giving her ever frostier glances, she muttered an excuse and headed out of the door, determined to seek him out. She knew that after football matches he and his mates usually went to the Lighter Inn, just a few hundred yards away in the middle of Bournemouth.

The rain was coming down hard and, in spite of her umbrella, her feet and legs were wet by the time she got there. This didn’t improve her rapidly deteriorating mood. As she splashed up to the entrance she could hear that the pub was packed. She left her umbrella in a bucket by the door and squeezed her way inside. The noise was deafening and it took her a while to get her bearings. Unsurprisingly, the noisiest spot was where the football players were, over by the bar. She thought she glimpsed Dean’s head for a second, but then she lost sight of him again. With difficulty, she made her way through the crowd towards him. As she approached the bar, she heard a chorus of hoots and whistles, and she was almost knocked over as a bunch of men pressed back towards her. She struggled to keep her balance and pushed forward until she managed to reach the bar and stand on the bar rail. This allowed her to see over the heads of some of the shorter players. The scene that greeted her was definitely not what she wanted to see.

In the midst of the throng of men, a woman was just in the process of peeling off the last of her clothes. She had dyed blonde hair, implausibly huge breast implants and enough fake tan to probably make her glow in the dark. From the sequins and glitter sticking to her body and the breathtaking height of her heels, she was clearly a professional. The two men behind the bar were protesting half-heartedly, but appeared to be making no attempt to stop proceedings. As Katie looked on in horror, the girl tossed her thong into the crowd and stepped forward. Directly in front of her was Dean. He was holding a half empty pint glass and you didn’t need to be Sherlock Holmes to see that he was very, very drunk.

The woman stretched a pair of no doubt experienced arms around his neck and pulled his face down towards her bust. To Katie’s horror, Dean disappeared into her cleavage, to reappear seconds later with a silly smile on his face. His hands dropped to her bare bottom and cries of ‘Go for it, Deano,’ and ‘Get in there, boy,’ resounded around the room.

Katie had had enough by this time. She turned and retraced her steps towards the door as fast as she could. She was so furious she was shaking. When she finally managed to reach the entrance, she saw the rain coming down even harder and the pavement swimming with water. To add insult to injury, she saw to her fury that somebody had stolen her umbrella.

Nevertheless, determined to get away from there at all costs, she launched herself out into the downpour. It seemed to take forever to get back to the car and, by the time she reached it, she was soaked through to her underwear. Her hair was plastered down onto her head and an icy stream was running down her back. She unlocked the door and slid into the driving seat. How could he be so stupid, so uncouth and so inconsiderate? What sort of man stands his girlfriend up on his birthday and drinks himself stupid? And getting himself involved with a stripper? She was appalled, soaked and freezing.

But at least this resolved one problem for her. This last straw had broken her camel’s back and she knew that this latest disappointment marked the end of things between them. She went back to the flat, packed a couple of bags and headed round to Jenny’s house.

Chapter One

‘How about this one, Katie? It sounds weird enough to be right up your street.’

‘Am I that weird?’

Katie looked up from the Situations Vacant pages of the newspaper where she had been hunting for, well, just about any job that was going. She had even briefly considered one advert looking for volunteers to join the crew of a raft on a transatlantic crossing. It would have been a really good way of making the big change she was seeking after the events of the past few months, but finally, she had given up on that one for two good reasons. First, she had no experience of sailing and second, she thought people who wanted to do something like that must be stark, raving mad.

‘Anybody looking at the small ads in The Lady at your age has got to be pretty strange.’ It was clear from her tone that Jenny didn’t approve. Or at least that she didn’t understand just how desperately Katie wanted out; out of the job that had been driving her mad and away from the shattered remains of a relationship that had gone sour. It had been with a sigh of relief and high, high hopes for the future that Katie had bidden farewell to her job at what she had come to refer to as the Awful Bloody School for Girls. These high hopes had lasted less than a week before a severe attack of reality had set in. If she didn’t find something soon, she knew that, degree or no degree, she might be reduced to working in a bar or a fast food restaurant, most likely serving burgers to her former pupils. When you’ve been a teacher for almost ten years, employers can’t seem to think of you as anything but a teacher, however badly you want to make the change. The idea of buying The Lady had been an act of desperation, but if that was what it would take…

Katie glanced around the lounge bar of the Crown and Sceptre. At this time of the evening it was almost empty. Her eyes alighted upon the bored-looking girl behind the bar. She shook her head, near to despair. That could be her in a few weeks’ time if she didn’t find something soon.

‘So, do you want to hear this advert?’ Jenny’s voice brought her back to the present.

Katie pulled herself together and looked across at her friend. ‘Yes, go on then. Read it out.’

Jenny’s support over the past months since the break-up with Dean had been invaluable. They had known each other since school, but Jenny’s career choice had been much more successful than hers. After a degree in business studies, she had opened a kitchen design studio, and business was booming. This evening she was taking time out to help Katie in her search for employment. It wasn’t easy.

‘I tell you this, Katie, I’ve never picked up a copy of The Lady before. It’s like reading something from a bygone age. I imagine the good folk at Downton Abbey recruited their staff through its pages. And this advert sounds like it was written by Lord Whatsisname himself. Here you go: “Wanted female companion and guide for English lady of good family. Residential position based in Devon and Tuscany. Would suit cordial and acquiescent person without ties. Excellent remuneration.”’ She snorted. ‘Who in the hell wrote that? “Of good family?” Who says that these days? And, “cordial and acquiescent?” I’m not even sure I can remember what acquiescent means. Unbelievable!’

‘Acquiescent means willing to do what you’re told. Sounds like they’re looking for a servant by another name. Probably to look after some old bat.’ Katie paused for a moment. She couldn’t afford to be too choosy after all. ‘Mind you, “Excellent remuneration” sounds good and it does say Tuscany. Maybe I’ll apply anyway. You never know.’

‘You’re crazy.’ There was no doubt in Jenny’s voice. ‘Just don’t come to me for sympathy when you find yourself emptying bedpans and pushing some old trout around in a bath chair.’ Nevertheless, she drew a red ring around the advert in the Personal column and handed it across. Then she eyed the empty glasses on the table in front of them. ‘Same again?’

‘Oh, yes, please. Thanks, Jen.’ Katie nodded vacantly and busied herself collecting the newspapers and magazines and sorting the few vaguely hopeful adverts they had found. Apart from the Tuscany one, there were only two others, neither ideal. While Jenny got the drinks, Katie checked back through them. One was a travel firm looking for a guide who spoke Italian to accompany groups of cycle tourists around Italy. Although she qualified as far as Italian was concerned, she hadn’t touched a bike for ten years. The other was for a private tutor to teach Italian and German to a pair of ten-year-old twins. Italian and French had been her subjects, not German. Still, she could always try.

‘Hi Katie. I thought I saw you over here. What can I get you?’

She looked up at the sound of his voice, surprised to see him. ‘Oh, hi, Martin, shouldn’t you be out on the practice field?’

He grinned and shook his head. ‘Nope. The season’s just about over. I’ve got a couple more friendlies and then two months off.’ He nodded towards the pile of papers. ‘Job hunting?’

‘Without much success, I’m afraid.’ She couldn’t help smiling at him. In spite of his recently broken nose, and the remains of bruising around his left eye, he really was a good-looking man. She had known him from her Pilates class for about six months, since the beginning of the year, but had only spoken to him for the first time a few days previously at a party she had been bullied into going to by Jenny. It was there she had discovered he was a solicitor and that he played rugby in his spare time.

‘Drink?’ He repeated his offer. Just at that moment Jenny appeared with two glasses of white wine.

‘Hi, Martin. If I’d known you were here, I’d have got you a pint.’

‘No worries.’ He gave her a wave and headed off to the bar. He was wearing shorts and trainers. Both girls eyed his broad shoulders and strong brown legs as he disappeared. Katie also found herself looking at his firm behind. Taking advantage of his momentary absence, Jenny lowered her voice and broached the subject they had been discussing only a few hours earlier. ‘Fancy Martin coming to this pub! I’ve never seen him in here before. I reckon he’s come looking for you, Katie. This is your chance. Ask him out. He’s obviously into you.’

Katie shook her head. ‘Don’t be so silly.’

Jenny gave her an expression of disbelief. ‘Listen to me, girl. I know what I’m talking about. He latched onto you at the party and anybody could see he was keen.’

Katie took a deep breath. ‘I’m not so sure, but, anyway, enough’s enough. The last thing I want is to leap back into another relationship. What I need to do now is to concentrate on getting myself a job and, hopefully, a career. I need to know that I can make a success of my life without having to rely on anybody else.’ She looked across at Jenny. ‘The thing is, Jen, I can’t just sit here waiting for Mr Right to appear. Besides which, there aren’t many of them around these days. No, I’m afraid men are off the agenda for now.’ She paused for a moment before admitting, ‘Even men with a body like Martin’s.’

Jenny gave her a long hard look. ‘Don’t let one bad experience sour things for you completely. It’s like they say about riding. You fall off. You get straight back up on the horse again.’

‘I think I’ll keep my feet firmly on the ground for now. Besides, he’d never go for it or, if he did, it would just be because he’s sorry for me.’ She saw Jenny’s expression. ‘I told him all about the Dean debacle. And anyway, you’re a fine one to be giving me relationship advice. You’ve hardly been out with a man since university. I never had you pegged for a career girl when we were students, but that’s what you are.’

‘I’ll get there before too long. If I had a Martin sniffing around me I wouldn’t say no, and that’s for sure. For crying out loud, Katie; strap on a pair, will you?’

‘A pair of what?’ Martin reappeared with a pint of lager in his hand. If he noticed their embarrassment he was good enough not to show it. ‘All right if I join you? Not interrupting anything, am I?’

They waved him to a seat. He took a mouthful of beer then set his glass down on the table. He looked across at Katie. ‘So, anything good on the jobs front?’ She shook her head and gave him a brief rundown of the three possibles. He shook his head in sympathy. ‘Doesn’t sound too good. Of course, you could always go back to uni, take a conversion course and do law. Only a year and you’d be a more marketable proposition.’

‘You make it sound as if I’m selling myself.’ Katie reached for her wine.

‘Well, if you were, I’d be the first to make you an offer.’

Jenny sat up. So she had been right. This tall, handsome man was making a play for Katie. Surreptitiously, she studied her friend, who was doing her unsuccessful best to avoid showing that she was blushing. Seeing her embarrassment, Jenny came to her rescue.

‘What about you, Martin? Thinking about giving up the legal profession and becoming a professional rugby player?’

He dragged his eyes away from Katie, turned towards her and shook his head. ‘No way, Jenny. I’ve had so much injury trouble this year, I don’t think I’d hack it in the professional leagues. Have you seen the size of some of those guys?’ His hand strayed to his bruised face. ‘Besides, if I was going to do that, it should have been ten years ago, maybe more. Thirty-one is not the age to try something like that. No, I’m pretty happy as a solicitor, just like my dad and my big brother.’

Katie glanced gratefully across at Jenny, glad of the change of subject. ‘My dad was a solicitor. He was always on at me about studying law. I’m beginning to think he might have been right after all. Forget languages, forget the humanities, do something that’ll pay well. The trouble is, I haven’t got the funds to take a year out to retrain. I’m afraid I’ll have to keep looking for something that’ll pay the bills for now.’

‘Can’t you ask your dad?’ When they were younger, Jenny had often visited the big house where Katie’s folks lived, up on the cliffs with a view out over the sea. Katie shook her head.

‘That’s the real last resort. I got myself into this mess and it’s up to me to get myself out of it.’ Jenny gave her a smile. Katie could be stubborn when she wanted.

‘There’s more to life than money, Katie. It can’t buy happiness, or so they say.’

‘It can make unhappiness a hell of a lot more comfortable, though.’

Chapter Two

‘Miss Katherine Parr?’

It was a man’s voice, the accent difficult to pinpoint, maybe Scottish. Katie looked up hastily. She was standing on the platform, still checking that she had remembered to take all her luggage when she left the train. She had always had a fear of leaving something behind and only realising as the train pulled away from the station. She straightened up and studied the man who had addressed her. To her amazement, he was dressed like Toad of Toad Hall. He was wearing a flat tweed cap and heavy leather gloves, although the temperature that sunny July evening was still well into the twenties. All he needed was a pair of airman’s goggles and he would have looked the part perfectly. She cleared her throat.

‘Hello. Yes, I’m Katherine Parr. Have you come to take me to Iddlescombe?’

‘Yes, Miss. My name is Mackintosh.’ Yes, definitely Scottish. Mr Mackintosh nodded gravely and reached out for her two bags. She made a half-hearted attempt to take the smaller one, but his gloved hands were obviously attached to strong arms, and he whisked them away without appreciable effort. ‘If you would care to follow me, Miss.’

The station at Nymptonford was squeezed into the bottom of a wooded valley, between the road and the river. The evening sun at that time still illuminated the surrounding hills, but no longer reached into the valley floor. The air was refreshingly cool after the heat of the train whose air conditioning hadn’t been working. Katie breathed in deeply, glad to be outside. As she followed her driver off the platform, through the small Victorian waiting room and onto the forecourt, she got another surprise. Clearly her journey up to the house was going to be quite different to anything she had ever experienced up till then.

‘I’ll look after your bags, Miss. If you would like to take a seat.’ Mr Mackintosh somehow managed to free one hand and open the rear door for her. Katie just stood there, looking on in amazement. She had never, ever, in her whole life seen a car like this. It was immensely long, immensely old and unbelievably beautiful. It was an open car, with the roof folded down and hidden under a leather cover. An amazingly elegant mascot in the shape of a bird stood on the gleaming chrome radiator, the bodywork was pure glistening white, as were the tyres, and the interior was rich blue leather. Incredibly, there were two windscreens. One was directly in front of the driver, sticking up from the bonnet on imposing chrome pillars. The second was behind the driver, obviously designed to keep the flies out of the faces of the important passengers in the rear seats. It was into these seats that Katie hesitantly stepped.

‘There is a plaid in the compartment by your left hand, Miss, if you feel the chill.’ Mr Mackintosh stowed her bags on the seat beside him and came round to close the door for her. Katie settled back into what felt like a wonderfully comfortable sofa and looked around, feeling very conspicuous and, if the truth be told, a bit silly. Fortunately there was nobody else to be seen. She had been the only passenger to alight here and the only sign of life was a large black and white cow, who studied her meditatively from a gate on the opposite side of the road. Martin had told her that Iddlescombe was deep in the Devon countryside and he hadn’t been joking. Thought of Martin cheered her and saddened her at the same time. As the huge car coughed into life and pulled away unexpectedly smoothly, she found herself thinking fondly of him.

Everything had happened so quickly. The previous Monday she had sent off her application for the position of companion as advertised in The Lady, and the invitation to interview had come back by return. It had been for that same week. The interview was in the legal chambers of a Mr Hereward Evergreen of the old established firm of Evergreen, Evergreen and Lighterman, just behind the Temple Church in London. Martin had offered to give her a lift up there as he claimed he had business to attend to. The drive up to London had been most enjoyable, mainly because it was the first time Katie had found herself alone with him for a relatively long period of time. In spite of her resolve to stay clear of men and concentrate on a career, she very much enjoyed his company and she got the impression that he had enjoyed hers.

Her reminiscing was interrupted by what could have been an expletive from the driver and a shower of feathers in the air. As she looked on, Mr Mackintosh eased the vast vehicle into the side of the road and engaged a huge handbrake. The engine subsided to a throaty rumble. He walked round to the front of the car and reached down. Seconds later, he emerged with a twitching pheasant in his gloved hand. It was a fine-looking cock pheasant, or at least it had been before it hit the radiator of their car. He wrung its neck expertly to put an end to its suffering and lobbed it into the undergrowth. Katie grimaced. As he returned to the driver’s door, he felt obliged to offer an explanation.

‘I apologise for that, Miss. With animals, as with human beings, so often the beautiful ones are the stupidest. It’s not even as if we were going at any great speed. I trust you were not disturbed by the incident.’ Katie removed a handful of chestnut-coloured feathers from her hair and assured him that she was quite all right. Taking advantage of the relative silence, she asked how long it would take to get to Iddlescombe. He glanced down at the clock set into the walnut dashboard. ‘Not too long, Miss. We’re into the Iddlescombe Valley now. It’s about another six or seven miles to the great house. In this huge old thing that probably means about twenty minutes. If we were in one of Sir Algernon’s sportier models, we could probably make it in ten.’

‘Sir Algernon?’ Katie hadn’t heard his name before. At the interview, Mr Evergreen had spoken of Miss Victoria, but had not mentioned a man’s name.

The driver’s face became more sombre. ‘Sir Algernon Chalker-Pyne, Miss. Alas, Sir Algernon passed away in the spring. There’s just his daughter, Victoria, left in the house now.’ He glanced down at the car and ran an appreciative hand over the faultless bodywork. ‘He liked his cars, did Sir Algernon. He had a fine collection of them. Miss Victoria knows that and she has asked me to ensure they’re all kept in working order. That’s why we’re in the Hispano-Suiza today. I can only take this one out when there’s no chance of rain in the forecast.’ He opened the driver’s door and was about to climb back in when Katie asked the question she had been dying to ask ever since reading the advert in The Lady.

‘Please, Mr Mackintosh, what’s Miss Victoria like?’ Mr Evergreen had given little away at the interview. In fact, he had been much more interested in finding out as much as he could about Katie and her parents. It turned out that he was familiar with her father’s law firm and she had no doubt that that had greatly helped her chances. But he had said little about what or who awaited her.

She was reassured to see a smile cross Mr Mackintosh’s face. She realised that he was probably not quite as old as she had assumed at first sight. ‘She’s a fine young lady who’s had an unusual life, Miss. We all like her very much and I’m sure you’ll find her a kind and fair employer.’ He hazarded a question in his turn. ‘You are to be her companion, I believe. Is that correct?’

‘That’s right, Mr Mackintosh. It’s all happened so quickly. I only applied for the job last week. It’s all been a bit of a blur.’ And it had been. The offer of the job and, amazingly, the details of a salary that made even Martin, the lawyer, sit up and take notice, had arrived by special delivery the next day. As they had all agreed, whatever or whoever might be waiting for her at Iddlescombe Manor, this was too good an opportunity to miss. She had replied that she would be happy to accept and had had little time to do more than pack her bags. Apart, of course, from the couple of times she had been with Martin.

As the car resumed its way up the increasingly narrow lane towards their destination, Katie did her best not to let her thoughts dwell on what Mackintosh might have meant by his use of the word “unusual” when describing Miss Victoria’s background. She would find out very soon. She sat back and allowed herself a few more warm memories. Upon their return from London she had insisted on taking Martin down to one of the pubs by the river for a drink. This had extended into several drinks, food and a long chat. As the sun set over the water, she had learnt more about this kind, friendly and good-looking man. By the end of the evening she was seriously considering following Jenny’s advice and saddling him up. Only the bitter memory of the last disheartening months of her festering relationship with Dean and her resolve to concentrate on achieving financial independence stopped her from doing more than kissing him goodnight. Although, she thought happily to herself as the big car swung round a particularly sharp corner, it had been a very good kiss.

Katie didn’t really have experience of many men. There had been that first time with her friend Melanie’s brother, after both of them had consumed potentially liver-crippling quantities of cider. Her memory of the event was mercifully very hazy, but she remembered enough to know that the earth had not moved for her, at least until she started throwing up. There had been a few short-lived affairs at university and then, of course, for the last seven years, there had been Dean. She had only exchanged a few emails with him since the break-up, and if she never heard from him again, that would be just fine with her.

She shook her head to clear it and returned her thoughts to her rugby-playing solicitor. As the big car snaked in and out among the dense undergrowth of rhododendron bushes beneath the canopy of ancient trees, she knew she was looking forward to seeing Martin again. The fact that every minute took her further away from him made this all the more unlikely.

‘There’s the great house up there, Miss.’ She was brought back to the present by the voice of Mr Mackintosh. He extended an arm out in front of him as the woodland gave way to open pastures. There, in the distance, set at the edge of a lake, was one of the most wonderful houses she had ever seen. As they drove towards it, faster now as the road straightened out and widened, she saw the absolute perfection of its design, a triumph of columns, arches and extravagant statuary. It was quite enormous and surrounded by magnificent gardens.

The estate appeared to be ringed by a high stone wall that disappeared off into the distance either side of a lodge house that guarded the fine wrought iron gates. Mr Mackintosh hooted the wonderful old klaxon with his gloved hand and seconds later a figure limped out of the lodge and unlocked the gates. As they swept through, Katie saw that the gatekeeper was an old man, bald apart from an edging of straggly white hair around his shiny pate. He raised his fingers to his temple in salute and she found herself waving back like royalty.

There was a vibration from the tyres as they crossed a cattle grid and entered the parkland. A fine selection of specimen trees dotted the fields and Katie soon realised that the animals sheltering in the shade beneath their branches were deer. It was a magnificent scene, like something out of a Gainsborough or Constable painting. A drumming noise drew her attention. She looked around and saw that they were being followed by a figure on horseback. As she watched, the galloping horse drew near and then overtook them. The rider peeled off in the direction of the house before Katie could get a clear look at her. She registered that is was a female figure, dressed in impeccable white breeches and shiny black boots, but she and the horse quickly disappeared from sight. The car followed the avenue as it weaved between the ancient trees. By the time the big vehicle crunched across the gravel in front of the house, there was no sign of the horse or its rider.

‘Was that Miss Victoria?’ Katie looked up at Mr Mackintosh as he jumped out to open the door for her. He nodded briefly.

‘Yes, Miss. I imagine she’s gone round to the stable yard with Thumper.’

‘That’s the name of her horse?’

‘That’s the name of the horse she was riding this afternoon. She has a string of horses to suit her mood.’

‘Does she have a lot of different moods?’ There was a pause before Mr Mackintosh risked a response.

‘She has not had an easy life, Miss, in spite of all this.’ He waved a gloved hand in the general direction of the manor house. ‘I’m sure she will tell you herself.’

Katie climbed out and went round to retrieve her luggage, but Mackintosh had preceded her. ‘That’s all right, Miss. I’ll see that these go up to your room. Here’s Mrs Milliner. She’ll look after you.’

A maternal-looking woman who could have been mid-fifties, or maybe a shade older, appeared from the main door of the house and made her way nimbly down the steps towards them. She nodded approvingly as she saw Mr Mackintosh with Katie’s bags and gave him his instructions. ‘The young lady will be in the Green Room. If you would be so kind, Mr Mackintosh…’

He grunted assent and headed for the house. Mrs Milliner turned her attention to Katie, who was feeling a bit overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the place and the formality of the staff members. As Mrs Milliner extended her hand towards her, she felt quite apprehensive. The handshake, however, was gentle and an equally gentle smile spread across the woman’s face. ‘Welcome to Iddlescombe Manor, Miss Parr. I’m Mrs Milliner.’ She supplied no details of her job description but Katie had definitely got the impression by now that Mrs Milliner was in charge. She did her best to reply in a strong voice.

‘Good afternoon, Mrs Milliner. My name is Katherine, but everybody calls me Katie.’

‘Very good, Miss Katie. Now, if you would like to come along with me, I’ll show you to your room.’ Katie walked with her up the front steps. Two massive stone lions guarded the doors, which were a masterpiece of elaborate carving. A fine brass letterbox was set into the woodwork, shining brightly as only regularly polished brass can do. A massive metal rod and handle hung down to one side of the doors, presumably to act as the doorbell. Mrs Milliner stood to one side and motioned Katie inside.

The entrance hall and the monumental staircase were awe-inspiring, studded with fine oil paintings and stags’ heads bristling with antlers. The corridor leading to her room was wider than the lane leading up the valley to the house and, beneath the thick strip of carpet, the broad wooden floorboards creaked as they walked along. Mrs Milliner accompanied her along the corridor without comment, and Katie began to feel more and more nervous. There was no sign of Miss Victoria. Maybe she was changing after her ride. As they reached the room, Katie summoned up the courage to attempt conversation.

‘Is Miss Victoria’s room along here as well?’

Mrs Milliner’s reply was friendly enough. ‘Yes, indeed. I’m sure she’ll show you round herself this evening. Dinner will be served at seven o’clock.’ She turned the handle and pushed the door open. Stepping back, she ushered Katie into a massive room. ‘Your bathroom is through that door over there and your dressing room is beyond the arch on the other side of the bed.’ Katie had never had a dressing room before and wasn’t totally sure what it was used for. Surely you didn’t need a whole room just to get dressed? The bed itself was an enormous wooden structure, the size of a couple of table tennis tables. Two windows looked straight out over the park and gardens. It was a remarkable place with a remarkable view.

‘How absolutely lovely, Mrs Milliner. What a room!’ The awe in Katie’s voice was clear to hear. ‘Are all the rooms here as luxurious as this?’

Mrs Milliner paused for thought before replying. ‘All the principal bedrooms, yes. There are twelve of those. The other bedrooms are maybe a little smaller, but they’re all of a similar style.’

‘So do many people live in the house?’

‘Only Miss Victoria, myself and a couple of maids. And now, of course, you too.’

‘Only five of us in this huge place?’ Katie could hardly believe it. Mrs Milliner gave her another little smile.

‘Yes, Miss Katie, just the five of us. Somehow, I don’t think you’ll be feeling crowded here. Now, if you would excuse me, I have to see that dinner is coming along well. I’ll get one of the girls to bring you up a pot of tea.’

Katie protested weakly, but to no avail. Five minutes later there was a tap on the door. Before Katie could get across to open it, the handle turned and a ginger-haired woman in a black uniform and crisp white apron brought in a tray.

‘Tea, Miss Katie?’

The “girl” was probably five or ten years older than Katie, who was beginning to get a bit fed up with the constant addition of “Miss” to her name. ‘Just “Katie” is fine. There’s no need for the “Miss”. What’s your name?’

‘Rosie, Mis…Katie.’ The maid was busy unloading a silver teapot, milk jug, plates, biscuits and a huge slice of what looked suspiciously like freshly-made sponge cake. Finally Rosie deposited the last item and straightened up. ‘If there’s anything else you require, just press the bell by your bedside.’ She extended a finger towards a large enamel knob protruding from the wall. Like the letterbox, the surround was solid, well-polished brass. By the time Katie had registered the existence of the button, the maid had slipped silently out of the room. Katie checked the time on her phone against the hands of the exquisite old clock on the mantelpiece. It was almost six.

There was another tap on the door. This time she made it across to the handle before it turned. It was Mr Mackintosh with her bags. He brought them in and set them on a low bench designed for luggage.

‘Will there be anything else, Miss?’

Katie shook her head, thanked him, and he withdrew.

Over the next hour she unpacked her things, showered and changed. She kept on checking the time on her phone until it was one minute to seven. She stood up and ran her hands down her sides, glancing at her reflection in the enormous floor to ceiling mirror. She had changed into the most formal skirt she had brought and was feeling rather conspicuous. She was also feeling really quite nervous.

She put her phone down on the table and prepared to go downstairs for dinner. Apart from telling the time, the phone was quite useless here. There appeared to be no mobile signal and no internet connection. She took a deep breath and went out into the corridor and along to the massive staircase. As she walked down the last few steps into the hall, Rosie appeared as if by magic and led her to the dining room. The door was already open and Miss Victoria was standing by the empty fireplace.

Katie stopped on the threshold and studied the scene. Her first reaction was one of surprise, accompanied by relief. Miss Victoria, far from being an elderly lady, was probably about the same age as she was. She hurried across to meet her new employer, whose hand was already extended in her direction.

‘Good evening. You are Katherine Parr?’ Miss Victoria sounded friendly, if a bit formal. Her accent would not have sounded out of place in Buckingham Palace or Made in Chelsea. As if reading Katie’s mind, she added, ‘And do you have royal lineage?’ She was smiling broadly now. Katie had had this remark made about her name often enough to recognise it.

‘I’m very pleased to meet you, Miss Victoria. And I’m Katherine Parr with a “K”, not a “C”. I’m not the reincarnation of Henry VIII’s last wife. Anyway, everybody calls me Katie.’

‘Well, I’m very pleased to meet you, Katie. Please can you call me just plain Victoria. I’m afraid my father insisted everybody should call me Miss Victoria all my life and I can’t seem to get them to change. Isn’t that so, Rosie?’

‘Yes, indeed, Miss Victoria.’ The maid’s face was expressionless.

Katie smiled and took a better look at Victoria. She looked four or five years younger than her, probably in her mid-twenties, tall and slim, with light brown hair piled up on her head in formal manner, revealing a pair of earrings. If the diamonds set in them were real, they were worth a fortune. Katie reflected that if they were false, they were the first fake she had seen all day. The clothes she was wearing were elegant, if dated. Her blouse was unmistakably silk, a delicate cream colour, and she was wearing a dark blue skirt that just covered her knees. On her feet she wore flat leather shoes. Instinctively Katie tugged her own skirt down as far as she could, but her knees were still visible. She rather regretted her choice of sandals now.

‘I hope you had a good journey here and that your room is satisfactory to your requirements.’ Katie found it hard to reconcile Victoria’s formal, rather antiquated, language with a girl of that age. It sounded weird and slightly ridiculous. She did her best to reply equally politely.

‘Yes, thank you very much. The room is great and everybody has been so very helpful. And I did enjoy my ride in that fantastic big white car. It was an awesome experience.’

‘Awesome? You can use that?’ Victoria repeated the word as if hearing it for the first time. ‘An awesome experience.’ She caught Katie’s eye and smiled a warm, genuine smile. ‘I think I shall use the word awesome myself. You see,’ she was still smiling, ‘I’ve got so much to learn. Anyway, you’ll work that out for yourself, I’m sure. Now, I asked Mrs Milliner to put out a bottle of champagne. Is that to your liking?’

‘I adore champagne, thank you. I’m afraid I haven’t had any for quite a while now. Normally I have to wait until one of my friends gets married.’ Something must have shown on her face. As Victoria waved to Rosie to pour the champagne, she gave Katie a gentle smile.

‘Mr Evergreen told me you had just separated from your husband. I’m very sorry.’

Katie took the glass of champagne that was handed to her and resisted the temptation to drain it in one. ‘Thank you, Victoria. We weren’t married, so it’s not a proper divorce, but we were together for seven years.’

‘Living in sin is the expression, isn’t it? Or is there something more modern?’

‘I think the technical legal term is cohabiting, but we just used to say we were living together. Living in sin is a bit old-fashioned nowadays.’ Katie was indeed beginning to get a taste of what awaited her. Somehow, this young woman acted and sounded like a Jane Austen character. She took a deep breath and raised her glass. ‘Thank you for your marvellous hospitality. Cheers.’ They clinked their glasses together and Katie did her best to follow Victoria’s example and just take a delicate sip of the wine. It, too, was amazing.

‘I hope you like the champagne. It’s only five years old but my father told me that this was a particularly good year. Une année royale.’

Katie noticed her excellent pronunciation. ‘It’s wonderful, thank you.’

‘Awesome? Could I say that?’

Katie smiled back at her. ‘You certainly could.’

Chapter Three

The next few days were a voyage of discovery for Katie. Rather than a hired employee, she felt more like an honoured guest. The house itself was as remarkable inside as it was on the outside. Victoria gave her a guided tour of a never-ending succession of magnificently decorated and furnished rooms until Katie had totally lost her bearings. There was a ballroom, a billiard room, a dedicated sewing room and even an observatory cleverly set into the roof. The kitchen was huge, dominated by the most enormous range cooker Katie had ever seen. Even the larder was about twice the size of her old bedroom. Upstairs here, the bedroom she had been given was bigger than the whole of her old flat. It was quite enormous, with its own private bathroom and a view out of the two huge windows across the lake, the wooded island in the middle of it and as far as the hills of Exmoor in the far distance. There was no doubt in Katie’s mind; Iddlescombe Manor was quite phenomenal.

At the same time, there were, inevitably, a number of disadvantages to living in the great house. In particular, as Katie had already discovered, there was no mobile phone reception and, worse still, no internet connection. In fact, there was no sign of a computer in the whole place. Although Victoria invited her to use the landline whenever she wanted, she only made a short call to her parents. What she really wanted to do was to call Jenny, to recount the wonders of this amazing place and to describe the unique person for whom she was now working. She had to admit that it would also be rather nice to call Martin to see how he was and just to chat to him, but she could hardly do that from the venerable Bakelite telephone in the study with Victoria standing by.

Otherwise, as far as she could work out, the only other telephone was in the kitchen, under the watchful eye and curious ears of Mrs Milliner. Mrs Milliner was the housekeeper, cook and butler, and clearly responsible for the daily running of the household. She was kind and friendly, but there was no way Katie could have the sort of cosy chat she wanted with Jenny or Martin under these circumstances. After two days, Katie resorted to snail mail and wrote a long and fairly incoherent letter to Jenny, which was taken by Mr Mackintosh to the post box at the station in Nymptonford.

But, above all, what Katie found truly fascinating was her young employer. As the days passed, Katie slowly began to build up a clearer picture of Victoria’s background. It was bizarre, to say the least. Gradually, as they got to know and trust each other, Victoria added more flesh to the bones of her past.

One of Victoria’s favourite places, Katie soon discovered, was the boathouse down by the lake. While the July weather stayed fine, the two girls got into the habit of going there most afternoons. It was down here, more than anywhere else, that Victoria felt most relaxed and most willing to talk.

‘My mother died when I was ten.’ In answer to something she read in Katie’s face, she explained. ‘They were both involved in a car accident, on the corniche above Monaco, not far from where Princess Grace died. Father survived, but he spent ages in intensive care in Monte Carlo before they let him travel home. He had received a massive blow to the head in the crash and he was never the same again. Ask Mrs Milliner. She knew him before the accident. His behaviour became very peculiar. Above all, he became increasingly,’ she looked across at Katie, ‘some would say, obsessively, concerned for my security.’

‘You weren’t with them?’

‘No.’ Victoria raised her eyebrows as if that were the most ridiculous idea. ‘Me travel abroad? I hardly ever left Iddlescombe. Do you know something?’ Katie caught a look of great sadness in her eyes. ‘I sometimes used to think I was in a prison here. All right, it was a very comfortable, spacious prison, but a prison all the same.’

‘You mean he kept you locked up here?’ Katie was appalled.

Now, along with the sadness, there was a spark of anger in Victoria’s eyes. ‘Not in so many words, but in effect yes, I was a prisoner here. You know, Katie, I never went to school or university.’ She was gripping the armrest of her deckchair so tightly that Katie could see her wrist shaking with the tension. She reached across and laid a calming hand upon Victoria’s and felt her fingers slowly relax.

‘But you’re clearly very well educated.’ Katie was finding this hard to digest. ‘You know all about history, art, all kinds of stuff. And I did a languages degree at university and your French and Italian sound better than mine.’

‘Grazie tanto!’ Victoria allowed herself a wry smile. ‘I’ve had a succession of really good tutors all my life. The Italian was from Signorina Belluno and the French came from Mademoiselle Lemarchand. I’ve had history teachers, literature teachers, you name it. Of course, what I haven’t had is much in the way of scientific tuition.’ She could see the surprise on Katie’s face. ‘I’m a girl, you see. My father was very, very old-fashioned. As far as he was concerned, girls shouldn’t involve themselves with science. I’ve got all sorts of useless knowledge. I can recite the names of all the popes from St Linus to the present day if I concentrate hard, but I couldn’t tell you how jet propulsion works.’

‘Linus?’ The name sounded familiar to Katie. ‘Wasn’t Linus one of Snoopy’s friends?’

‘Snoopy?’ Victoria looked up. ‘Who’s Snoopy?’

Katie stared back at her blankly. ‘You haven’t heard of Snoopy? But what books did you read as a kid?’

‘Oh, you know, the usual; Black Beauty, Alice in Wonderland, that sort of thing.’

‘And Harry Potter?’

‘Now I have heard of him. I’ve often seen him mentioned in the newspaper, but I’ve never read any of the books. And you still haven’t told me who Snoopy was.’

Katie came to a decision. ‘Victoria, we need to go shopping. We need to get you some books, and not just about jet propulsion.’

‘Shopping?’ There was a different note in Victoria’s voice now. Maybe excitement. ‘You mean we go to Exeter or somewhere to buy things?’

‘Exeter’ll be good for starters. We’ve got to get you some books. Anything else you want?’ There was a pause before Victoria replied, and there was no disguising the timidity in her voice. ‘Erm, I was wondering if maybe I should buy some clothes.’

Katie beamed. This was saving her a potentially difficult conversation. She had been dreading having The Clothes Talk. In the days since getting to Iddlescombe, she had only ever seen Victoria in riding clothes, formal clothes or cotton frocks. And the sort of cotton frocks she wore looked like something out of Goldilocks’ wardrobe. And as for shoes…

‘Listen, why don’t we start with a trip to Exeter? It’s only about an hour away. We could head off one morning and make a day of it. Maybe have lunch in a pub somewhere?’ And, she thought to herself, find somewhere with mobile reception.

‘We could do that?’ There was wonder in Victoria’s voice. There was a pause before she repeated her words, this time in stronger tones. ‘We could do that. We can do that.’ She caught Katie’s eye. ‘I’m twenty-five years old and I can do what I want. I keep forgetting that. Yes, we can and we must go shopping. Thank you, Katie.’

Katie was composing a shopping list in her head. ‘Books, clothes, shoes. One thing I haven’t seen here is a computer. I didn’t think there were many households left these days without one. Have I been looking in the wrong places?’

Victoria shook her head. ‘No, you’re right, no computer here.’ She hesitated, uncertain how to explain. Katie thought she knew the answer and offered a suggestion.

‘Your father wasn’t a fan of technology?’

‘I think that’s understating the situation.’ Victoria smiled weakly. ‘He hated, loathed and detested what he described as the insanity of modernity. Have you seen his collection of cars? Ask Mackintosh to show them to you some time. There isn’t one under fifty years old.’ Victoria lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. ‘Mackintosh is a marvel, managing to look after them as he does, but sometimes, particularly in winter, the tractor’s about the only vehicle that’ll start.’

‘So no modern things at all?’ Katie realised there was another item, apart from a computer, that she hadn’t spotted yet. ‘What about a television?’

Victoria shook her head again. ‘They bought one in 1953 so they could all watch the coronation. We’ve still got it somewhere. Of course it doesn’t work now.’

‘No TV? So if I said Eastenders or Coronation Street to you…?’

‘I’d say, what?’

Katie slowly turned over in her head the ramifications of not having a television. It was unthinkable. Still, that, at least, was easy to resolve. ‘Would you like a TV? It isn’t just rubbish on there, you know.’ She paused and reflected, before adding, ‘Although a good bit of it really is crap.’ She saw the expression on Victoria’s face. ‘Crap? You don’t know what that means?’

Victoria shook her head. ‘Oh, I know what it means and I’ve heard it before, but I assumed it was very rude. But you’re not a rude person, and you use it.’ Katie reflected that Jenny would probably have used much stronger language. Victoria carried on. ‘Listen, Katie.’ She was looking down at her feet, clearly embarrassed and sounding bitterly frustrated. ‘Do you see now why I need you? In so many ways I have been so very privileged for the last twenty-five years. I’ve been waited on hand and foot, I’ve lived here in beautiful surroundings, I’ve had the best possible tuition and a free run of a whole library of classic books. But it’s been an artificial existence.’ The frustration was spilling over into anger once more. ‘He kept me here, cut off from the world, because he thought he was doing me a favour. A favour?’

She stopped for a few minutes to compose herself. Katie sat in silence, reflecting upon what she had heard. Immense wealth, it appeared, could have equally immense disadvantages. She remembered Jenny’s comment about money not buying happiness. Here in front of her was the living proof of that. She felt a wave of pity and affection for this twenty-five-year-old who was only now taking her first, hesitant steps into the modern world. It couldn’t be easy.

After a while, Victoria felt able to carry on. ‘Being stuck here in limbo has left me with so much still to learn about what you would think of as normal life. To me, it’s a daunting prospect. My problem now is to somehow jump several decades into the present day. If you like, think of me as one of my father’s classic cars; very expensive, meticulously looked after, envied by many, but a relic of a bygone age that only appears in public very infrequently. I need you to help me, Katie. I need your help so badly.’

For a moment, tears welled up in her eyes once more and Katie saw another glimpse of the desperation beneath. She hunted for the right words of reassurance, but Victoria hadn’t finished. ‘I’m not stupid, you know. I’m well aware of the real world. We get the Daily Telegraph twice a week and I read it from cover to cover. I know it’s a different world out there on the other side of the glass curtain and I know that the time’s come for me to go out into it. Help me, please.’

She rubbed the back of her hand across her face and Katie made a mental note to add make-up to their shopping list. She waited until Victoria had recovered her composure and then did her best to be supportive and positive.

‘Don’t let it get you down too much, Victoria. Your father wasn’t all wrong, you know. I drove around for years in my little car and, believe me, it was crap. It was forty, fifty, sixty years younger than your dad’s cars, but it wouldn’t go up hills, it leaked like a sieve and, in winter, it never wanted to start. And, in fact, it’s died now, completely. So it’s not all good out there in the twenty-first century. But we’ll soon get you up to speed. It won’t take you long, I promise. You’ll see.’ She gave Victoria a bright smile and was gratified to see the beginnings of a smile on her young employer’s face.

‘Anyway, if you’ll let me, I think we should be able to get a TV and a computer installed up here in a very short space of time. And then, I’ll take you on a trip through the modern world that’ll blow your mind.’ Seeing Victoria’s expression, she translated. ‘That’ll amaze and astound you.’ As she was talking, she was thinking: music and cinema. An iPod and a stereo system would have to appear on their shopping list, plus some must-see DVDs. Maybe a Kindle would come in handy. She was beginning to realise that she was going to have her work cut out.

‘Katie…’ Victoria’s face had cleared. She looked up, straight into Katie’s eyes. ‘Whatever it takes, Katie.’ She was smiling now. ‘One thing we aren’t short of is money, so, like I say, whatever it takes.’

Chapter Four

The trip to Exeter was a great success. By the end of the afternoon, they had bought a lot more than Katie had written on her list. It was fortunate that Mackintosh had chosen to take a Rolls-Royce this time. It was an enormous vehicle with a cavernous boot. Even so, they filled it to bursting. Apart from a mass of clothes, books and films, there were two laptops, two tablet computers, a large flat screen television and numerous other electronic devices.

To Katie’s surprise, all the purchases were paid for by Mackintosh, who followed them round patiently, settling up shop by shop as they moved on from one to another. Katie was relieved to see that he used a debit card. For a while she had been wondering if he would appear with a bag of gold sovereigns, but clearly, some aspects of modernity had, of necessity, had to intrude upon the isolation of Iddlescombe Manor. However, as far as Katie could see, Victoria didn’t even carry a purse.

Although Katie had had a pretty privileged upbringing, without any real money worries, she had never experienced anything like this before. She had started to keep tab of just how much was being spent, but she gave up after the figures became a blur. Victoria was spending thousands of pounds without batting an eyelid. And yet, somehow, Katie didn’t feel jealous. However much money Victoria might have, it still couldn’t compensate for the loss of so many years of her life. She knew Jen would have a fit when, or rather if, she told her, but she didn’t know the full story. What was that thing about money not buying happiness again?

They had lunch in a restaurant near the fine old cathedral. The two girls sat by the window, while Mackintosh disappeared for a short while. Victoria demonstrated that she wasn’t quite as green as she looked by informing Katie of his likely destination.

‘I’m pretty sure he’s gone to the bookmakers. He’s always been one for a flutter on the horses. When he and my father used to go to the local point-to-point, they would always place a few bets.’

‘Didn’t they take you? You love horses after all.’ Victoria caught her eye and gave the now familiar shake of the head.

‘Never. Remember, I was his precious little girl to be sheltered from any possible harm.’ She shrugged her shoulders. ‘Anyway, that’s over now.’

Katie decided she could now ask something that had been bothering her for some days. ‘Victoria, you’re twenty-five, aren’t you? Surely, when you were eighteen, or at the least when you were twenty-one, you would have been able to do as you wished. You could have chosen to fly the nest. Your father couldn’t keep on holding you in the house against your will, surely?’

‘I’m not sure it was really against my will, Katie.’ Victoria set the menu down and transferred her gaze out onto the cathedral. ‘I did escape one day, you know.’ She lowered her voice and still avoided meeting Katie’s eye. ‘When I was fourteen, fifteen, I forget exactly, I ran off. I’d been getting more and more bitter about being cut off from the real world. I must have been really hard work for Mrs Milliner and my tutors. I hated everybody and everything and I behaved very badly. I was rude to everybody, I threw tantrums and I screamed and shouted all the time. I even threw things around.’ She took a deep breath and caught Katie’s eye. ‘I behaved like a real… What’s the expression I should use?’

‘Teenager?’ Katie smiled at her. ‘I’ve spent the best part of a decade teaching teenagers. There’s nothing particularly unusual in a teenager throwing tantrums and rebelling against authority.’

Victoria nodded. ‘Well, I got to the stage when I decided I had to get out. I couldn’t take it any more. One autumn afternoon I climbed the wall over by the far woods and set off down the valley, hoping to find a train to take me away.’ She managed a small smile. ‘It didn’t occur to me to take money with me. Even if I’d found the station, I wouldn’t have been able to buy a ticket.’

‘So what happened?’

‘It got dark while I was still in the woods. I got hopelessly lost and started to panic. It was freezing cold and I began to shiver. I blundered on until I came to a road.’ She shook her head and sighed as the memories resurfaced. ‘I didn’t know which way to turn, so I headed back uphill, hoping it would lead me home to the manor. Then, about three o’clock in the morning I saw the lights of a car coming towards me. It was Mackintosh. I’ve never been so pleased to see anybody in my life.’

Katie reached over and squeezed her hand. ‘He’s a good, kind man, isn’t he? I felt that the very first time I met him.’

‘He’s a very good man. I hold him in high esteem.’ Victoria looked back and caught Katie’s eye. ‘That’s wrong, isn’t it? Nobody says that any more, do they?’

Katie gave her a smile. ‘Well spotted. I think we just respect people these days or think a lot of them.’

Victoria nodded. ‘Well, I certainly think a lot of him. He wrapped me in a blanket and drove me home. When we got back to the manor, there were cars all over the place, blue lights flashing, even men in frogman suits down by the lake. My father was standing at the front door as we pulled up. I can still see his face now.’ She blinked a few times at the memory. ‘He came running down the steps when he saw me and took me in his arms. He was sobbing his heart out and he just stood there, holding me to him, touching my head, my face, my shoulders, as if he were assuring himself it really was me. He kept repeating over and over again how much he loved me. I’d never seen him cry before. In fact, I’d never really seen anything much in the way of emotion from him before.’

The waitress was hovering, but Katie waved her away. Somehow she knew that the more Victoria talked about her troubled past, the better it would be for her. She sat back and listened, enthralled, as Victoria picked up the story once more.

‘You see, deep down, I’d always known he wasn’t quite right in the head ever since the accident. But up till then, I’d only seen the hard, unbending side of him; the blind refusal to compromise, even when I begged and begged. But seeing him totally distraught like that was a real eye-opener. I think that got through to me more than anything. Anyway, from that time onwards, I knew I had to look after him.’ She caught Katie’s eye. ‘I know it sounds strange, but somehow I realised that it was my duty to look after him in the same way he thought he was looking after me. From then on, I decided to toe the line, for his sake. And, anyway, after the scare I’d given myself in that big, dark, cold wood, maybe I wasn’t ready for the big wide world after all.’

‘It can be a scary place out here.’ Katie found herself thinking about her experiences over the past few months. Life had a way of being both scary and unkind. ‘If I told you all about the year I’ve had, it would make your hair curl.’

Victoria nodded. ‘So I just accepted that things were going to be that way. I suppose part of me liked the idea of being so important to my father and to being protected from all the terrible things you hear about on the radio. And, at the same time, knowing that I was somehow caring for him, gave my life a sense of purpose it had been lacking up till then.’ She paused and caught her breath. ‘And then, a few years later, around the time of my twenty-first birthday, he was diagnosed with cancer.’ She ran the back of her hand across her eyes and looked up at Katie. ‘I couldn’t abandon him then, could I?’

Katie could imagine the conflicting emotions that must have been running through her head. She nodded in agreement. ‘I see the problem. No, of course you couldn’t.’ Determined to cheer the atmosphere up, she gave a broad smile. ‘But think of your life up till now as like being in a cocoon. Now, at last, it’s as if the cocoon’s split open and the butterfly can finally come out. Your butterfly wings are beating, Victoria, can you feel them? Come on, let’s order some food and then hit the shops again. You’ve got a lot of lost shopping time to make up for. Let me show you how retail therapy can be a very real form of therapy. You’ll be amazed at how it cheers you up.’

As they ate their lunch, they chatted, mainly about the people they could see through the window. Katie realised that the experience of observing complete strangers was something new and exciting for Victoria. Women’s fashions, in particular, never ceased to amaze. ‘But that girl there is almost naked.’ Victoria’s tone was incredulous. ‘Her breasts are just hidden by the material, but you can still see everything through it.’ She looked up at Katie, as an idea crossed her mind. ‘Do you think she’s a prostitute?’

‘Ssh, Victoria, keep your voice down. No, she’s definitely not a prostitute. It’s the fashion these days. Look, there are more of them over there.’ Katie indicated a group of holidaymakers wearing tank tops and short shorts. She heard Victoria’s intake of breath.

‘Good lord above. That girl’s trousers are so tight they could have been painted on. I can see her knickers underneath.’

There then ensued a conversation about underwear. In fact, it was more of a monologue by Katie, interspersed by disbelieving oohs and aahs from her employer. Several times Katie had to stop and swear on everything she held dear that she wasn’t making things up. Yes, panties really were that small. Yes, underwear came in other colours apart from white. Yes, that girl’s prominent bust was achieved by the type of bra she was wearing, rather than some freak of nature. Finally, a passing teenager reduced Victoria to incoherent stammering.

‘That boy’s trousers are positively falling down. Look, they’re almost down round his knees. You can see his underpants.’

Katie did her best to explain and clarify where necessary. She found herself doing a lot of explaining.

As the meal progressed, the conversation moved on from clothes to tattoos. The discovery that their waitress had a dolphin tattooed on her bare shoulder sparked off a series of sightings of other tattoos, many far less attractive than the dolphin. ‘That man’s arm is all the colours of the rainbow. It must have hurt awfully, having that done.’

Katie now felt thankful that her mother had steadfastly refused her permission to get any of the tattoos or piercings she had so desired in her teens. And luckily by the time she had got to university she hadn’t been interested any more. As a Goth girl clumped past in black leather boots with a stud in her nose attached to a chain, Victoria was dumbfounded. ‘But, Katie, that must be so unhygienic. Imagine what happens when she gets a cold.’ There was a pause, during which Katie felt relieved to have finished her ice cream. ‘What if she sneezes?’

As they relaxed over a cappuccino after lunch, Victoria remembered what Katie had said earlier. ‘Has this year really been awful for you?’

Katie looked up and nodded. ‘To be honest, it’s been pretty crap the last couple of years, but it all came to a head this spring.’

‘You mean, with your husband…boyfriend?’

‘Him and work. With Dean it was a series of things, mainly drink-related, leading up to a full-blooded shoot-out when he missed his birthday dinner.’ She went on to give Victoria a somewhat sanitised version of the events in the pub with the stripper. Victoria was suitably shocked.

‘That’s awful. I don’t blame you for breaking it off.’

‘The technical term for what happened is that I dumped him, big time.’

Victoria giggled. ‘I like that. You dumped him, just like the dustbin. And what was wrong at work?’

‘I’ve been trying to analyse it. I actually like teaching, but I think it was maybe the cyclical nature of it that got me down.’ In answer to Victoria’s expression she explained. ‘The kids come to you at the beginning of the year. You teach them and then they move on at the end of the year. But you stay there. I started feeling I was just marking time. And then there was all the bureaucracy and red tape. No, I knew I needed a change. Who knows? Maybe if I’d been in a settled relationship with a good man, I might have seen things differently.’

‘So is anybody courting you at the moment?’

Katie laughed. ‘No, Victoria, people stopped courting about a hundred years ago. I think you want to ask if I’m seeing anybody at the moment. Or if there’s somebody after me.’

Victoria acknowledged the correction with a nod of the head. ‘So, are you seeing somebody at the moment? Is anybody after you?’ Katie realised that the question was not as simple as it sounded. So far in her life, Victoria had neither been courted nor had anybody after her. This was all a whole new world waiting for her. Katie knew that she would have her work cut out helping her to navigate her way through these treacherous waters. She wasn’t looking forward to the challenge. She limited herself to short answers to the questions.

‘No to the first and maybe to the second.’ She saw Victoria’s expression. ‘There’s a man called Martin. I hardly know him, though. I’ll tell you about him some time.’

Victoria thought it best to change the subject. ‘I’ve been thinking. You were talking about your car last night, weren’t you?’ Katie nodded. ‘So, you can drive?’

‘Ever since I was 17. What about you? I’ve seen you drive the tractor. I was very impressed at the way you backed that huge trailer into the yard.’

Victoria snorted. ‘Tractors are easy. But, no, I can’t go out on the road. I haven’t got a licence.’ She gave Katie a wry smile. ‘By now, you can probably imagine why I never learnt.’

‘Your dad.’ She smiled back at her. ‘Well, that’s easy. We’ll get you an application for a provisional licence at the post office this afternoon and we’ll fix you up with a course of lessons. We’ll have you out on the open road by the end of the month.’

‘Oh, Katie, that’s amazing!’ Victoria was beaming, then a thought struck her. ‘We’d better get another car, then. Somehow I don’t think the Rolls is quite the vehicle to learn on. Or any of the cars from my father’s collection really. And, if we get a car now, you can drive it as much as you like. Didn’t you say you wanted to come down to Exeter to see somebody next weekend?’ She caught Katie’s eye. Katie had finally been able to speak to Jenny that morning from the toilet in John Lewis and they had provisionally arranged to meet up next Saturday. If Katie had the use of a car, that would make things much easier. ‘I’m sure it would be expedient if you had a car.’

‘That would be fantastic.’ Katie couldn’t believe her luck. ‘By the way, I would say that expedient is probably not really common parlance nowadays. You could maybe try suitable or handy. Anyway that would be really handy as I’m afraid my old car failed its MOT last month and I sold it to a scrap merchant for fifty pounds.’ It was now becoming automatic for her to explain acronyms and “modern” words. ‘That’s the test all cars need to have every year to prove they’re safe to drive. Anyway, that’s a great idea if you’re sure.’ At that moment they both spotted Mackintosh loitering on the pavement opposite the restaurant.

‘Finished? Anything else you want to eat?’ Katie shook her head and Victoria stood up. ‘I’ll just go to the lavato…the loo.’ This was another recent addition to Victoria’s vocabulary and she was still getting used to it. She gave Katie a proud smile. ‘You see, I’m learning! I won’t be a minute. Maybe you might like to ask Mackintosh to pay the bill for us.’

Katie beckoned Mackintosh in and he paid the bill, adding a scrupulously calculated tip. Victoria reappeared and they went out into Cathedral Close. Katie looked across at Victoria.

‘What’s next on the agenda?’

Victoria had no doubts. ‘Mackintosh, we need to buy a car.’

He didn’t bat an eyelid. ‘Certainly, Miss Victoria. What sort of car did you have in mind?’

‘Well, Katie needs a car for getting about and I’m going to learn to drive, so maybe something a little smaller than the Rolls.’ She caught the Scotsman’s eye. ‘And something modern, I think.’

Mackintosh allowed himself a smile. ‘A capital idea, Miss Victoria. A nice new car sounds very sensible. Did you have anything in mind?’ Seeing the blank look on Victoria’s face, he transferred his attention to Katie. ‘Any preference…Katie?’

Katie gave him a broad smile. She had been working hard on all the staff at the great house to get them to call her just plain, Katie, rather than, Miss Katie. ‘No preference. To be honest, I don’t know the first thing about cars. As long as it starts, that’ll be fine.’

Mackintosh nodded to himself and checked a few details. ‘Two seats or four?’

The two girls looked at each other for a moment. After a pause for reflection, Victoria suggested, ‘Two? Oh, I don’t know, maybe four is more sensible.’

‘Either is fine by me.’ Katie had never been very interested in cars.

‘Something sporty? Maybe with an open top?’

‘Well, yes, I suppose that would be nice, but nothing too big.’ Now that she had decided to learn, Victoria wanted something of a manageable size.

‘My thoughts entirely.’ Mackintosh gave it a few moments’ thought. ‘Definitely nothing too big. Those Ferraris and Lamborghinis are just too wide and low for our lanes.’ Katie almost tripped over as she heard these legendary names. Mackintosh caught her elbow and steadied her. ‘The Germans make some very good cars these days. Your father, Miss Victoria, was very much against anything made in that particular country, but if you don’t have any such convictions, I think German will make the best choice.’

‘Whatever you decide, Mackintosh. In fact, if there’s a garage here in Exeter, maybe we could go and see one this afternoon.’

‘Certainly, Miss Victoria. Would you like to leave now? I can go and get the Rolls.’

‘You go off, Mackintosh, but don’t hurry. There is a bit more shopping I need to do first. Will you pick us up from the same place at, say, three o’clock?’

Mackintosh nodded his agreement and headed off up the road. Katie turned to Victoria and raised an eyebrow. ‘What would you like to buy now?’

‘Underwear, Katie. Definitely some new underwear.’

Chapter Five

The TV aerial was installed in the great house the very next day. In the space of a few hours the technician put up a new aerial and ran connections to the main rooms. It was exactly one o’clock when the big television in the lounge was switched on, just in time for the news. The signal was good and clear, and the newsreaders’ faces looked out at them in high definition. Katie thanked the technician, who handed her the remote control and left. She went out into the hall and called up the stairs to Victoria, who was in her room, still trying on the host of new clothes she had bought. She appeared on the landing wearing the short denim skirt they had found. She pulled on a pale blue top and ran down excitedly, barefoot.

Katie spotted the face of Mrs Milliner, peering through the crack of the kitchen door. She looked surprised, but far from disapproving. That morning at breakfast, Katie had told her about the previous day’s shopping trip and the housekeeper had been delighted.

‘Best thing she could have done, Mis… Katie. It’s not natural for a young woman to be cooped up in the house all the time.’ She glanced at the door, but both of them knew that at that hour Victoria was out on her morning ride. ‘Sir Algernon loved her deeply, or at least, he thought he did. The car crash fifteen years ago did him much more damage than just the broken bones.’ She shook her head. ‘He came out of it mentally scarred; seriously mentally scarred.’

‘Victoria told me she was only ten when that happened. So did she have a normal life before that?’

Mrs Milliner hesitated for a moment. ‘Well, maybe not normal like you and me, but much more normal than afterwards. Sir Algernon was a good bit older than his wife. In fact, for a long time it looked as though he would never marry and we were all so very happy for him when that happened. Her ladyship was a lovely girl.’ Spotting a mark on one of the oven doors, she picked up a cloth and set about it while she carried on.

‘Sir Algernon doted on Victoria from the day she was born. He always had a terror of something happening to her and he was oh so protective, but her ladyship mostly managed to get him to relax his hold. Before her mother’s death, Victoria led a fairly normal sort of life with friends, parties, gymkhanas and the like. Of course, once her mother was gone, that all stopped. And then, I’m sorry to say, as a result of the injuries he suffered in the accident, Sir Algeron just got worse and worse.’

‘What sort of thing was he afraid of? Accident, illness?’

Mrs Milliner lowered her voice. ‘All that, in fact just about everything. Maybe even kidnapping, or so I was told. You do know that this is one of the wealthiest families in Britain, don’t you? Back before the war, the Chalker-Pynes were hobnobbing with the Rothschilds, Rockefellers and the like. I believe Henry Ford himself came and stayed here on several occasions. You can imagine how tight security was around folk like that. Well, Sir Algernon grew up under that sort of regime and he got a real bee in his bonnet about it. That’s why he kept poor Miss Victoria locked up in here.’ Finally satisfied that the oven door was impeccable once more, she jettisoned the cloth and wiped her hands on her apron. ‘He loved her very dearly, but he couldn’t understand that the way he was treating her was so inhumane.’ She wiped some moisture from her eye. ‘He really thought he was doing his very best for her. Oh dear, oh dear, it’s so sad really. They had so very much and yet, they never were truly happy.’

‘And now Victoria is the last of the Chalker-Pynes?’

‘The last. But I’ll tell you this…Katie. She’s inherited one good thing from her father and that’s his strength of character. I often try to put myself into her position. I saw it, we all saw it as she grew up. Call it what you like, she was a prisoner here. For somebody weaker-willed, the results could have been disastrous. But not for Victoria. She’s come through her ordeal far, far better than I could ever have managed. She’s a remarkable girl and at least she’s had the common sense to try to break out of it and make a return to real life.’ She looked across at Katie with a gentle smile. ‘That’s where you come in. We were all a bit worried when she announced her plans, but now that we’ve got to know you, we are so very, very pleased you’ve come.’ She reached out and laid her hand on Katie’s arm. ‘What you’re doing is just what she needs. Do, please, do your best for her.’

Katie had assured her that she would do all she could. And she meant it.

Victoria ran into the lounge and stopped dead, her eyes fixed incredulously on the big television screen. Katie watched the rapt expression on her face. ‘How amazing! It’s so clear, the colours so real.’ She turned towards Katie, her eyes wide. ‘It’s almost like being there!’

Katie grinned at her. ‘Well, I’ve got a bit more good news for you. After a lot of pleading and a few simulated tears, I have managed to persuade British Telecom to fix us up with a broadband connection early next week. That way, I can get you playing with the computers properly.’

The previous evening, upon their return from Exeter, they had unpacked the laptops and the tablets. Victoria had casually passed one of each across to Katie.

‘Here, these are for you. They’re a little present from me, but it’s also self-interest. If we both have the same equipment it’ll be easier for you to show me how to work them.’ Katie hadn’t really known what to say. A casual gift worth over a thousand pounds might be nothing to Victoria, but to Katie it meant so much. Together, they had powered up the laptops and then spent the evening going through the basics of computing from zero. For Katie it had been a surreal experience, having to explain such familiar words as mouse, enter and shift to somebody who had no previous experience. Victoria had taken to it like a duck to water.

Just at that moment, the image on the screen changed to central London, with a commentator standing opposite the Houses of Parliament. Victoria was fascinated.

‘I’ve been to London, you know?’ She turned her head briefly towards Katie, before returning her gaze to the screen. ‘I was only little, but I still remember seeing Tower Bridge open. There were so many people everywhere, it was a bit scary. Looking at the traffic on the screen, and the mass of people walking to and fro, it seems things have not improved.’

‘Well, shall we add a visit to London to our to-do list?’

‘That would be awesome.’ They both smiled at that.

At that moment, Mrs Milliner appeared to inform them that lunch was served. Victoria looked disappointed to be separated from the television until Katie suggested they invest in another one and position it in the dining room. ‘I got the man to run a lead in there just in case.’ She showed Victoria how to turn the TV off using the remote control. This, too, was a novelty to her.

‘Should I carry it round with me, like you do with yours?’ Katie had to stop and think for a moment before she realised Victoria was confusing the remote with her mobile phone. The ensuing conversation about phones lasted almost all the way through lunch and concluded with Victoria’s determination to buy one. In response to Katie’s objection that there was no signal at Iddlescombe, Victoria sniffed and asked her to arrange it. Short of building a mast in the grounds, Katie couldn’t see how they would be able to do that, but she agreed to look into it.

‘You have a letter, Miss Victoria.’

Rosie held out a round silver salver upon which there was an envelope. Victoria’s eyes lit up. ‘I don’t get a lot of letters. I wonder who’s sent this one.’ She opened it and checked the contents. From the other side of the table, Katie could see that it was a card and it looked like an invitation. It was.

‘Somebody getting married?’

Victoria looked up. ‘No, I don’t think so. It’s our neighbours up the valley. They’ve invited me to a garden party.’ She sounded troubled. Katie was quick to pick up on her tone.

‘What’s wrong? Don’t you like them?’

Victoria let the invitation fall back onto the table top. Her expression was a mixture of surprise and fear. ‘I don’t know really. I haven’t seen them since I was a little girl. To be honest, I’ve hardly seen anybody since I was a little girl.’ She reached for the card again. ‘It’s signed Thomas Drake. Little Tommie Drake, I remember him from the pony club.’ She looked across at Katie. ‘I would have been nine or ten, just before my mother died.’ She dropped her eyes.

‘What’s the occasion?’

‘It doesn’t say.’

‘Do you often hear from them, from him?’

‘My father used to shoot with Colonel Drake, Tommie’s father, but I’m pretty sure he died a couple of years ago, at least as far as I can remember he did.’

‘Well, are you going to go?’ Katie realised that this was a good opportunity for Victoria to start flapping those butterfly wings of hers. ‘Why don’t you?’ She could see that Victoria was unnerved at the prospect of a social event after so many years of seclusion. It took a while before she made her mind up. She looked up at Katie.

‘All right, I’ll go. I know I’ve got to start getting out. It’s just that it’s contrary to everything I’ve got used to for so long. I’ll go as long as you come with me. It says Miss Victoria Chalker-Pyne and friend. We’ll go together.’

Katie nodded enthusiastically. ‘Good girl, of course I’ll come with you. When is it?’

‘Next weekend. Saturday at 3.00pm.’

Katie cursed inwardly as she remembered that this was the day she was supposed to be meeting Jenny. Still, she wouldn’t be seeing her until the evening and it was only an hour by car to Exeter, so she could make it work. She looked across at Victoria with a grin. ‘Right, so what are you going to wear?’

A look of horror swept across Victoria’s face. ‘Oh, lord, I hadn’t thought of that. What would you suggest?’

Katie knew exactly what to suggest. ‘Another shopping trip should be able to provide the answer. That promises to be fun.’

Chapter Six

Katie pulled up outside the old Georgian farmhouse and pressed the button to close the car roof. She watched in fascination as the metal top slid up and over them, before clicking into place. They had only had the new car for three days and she still hadn’t tired of all the gismos and gadgets with which it was equipped. Beside her, Victoria was looking nervous, but they had been through it all before, several times. All she had to do was smile, chat about the weather and, if she got into difficulty, let Katie know and they could be out of there in a flash.

The sun was still shining out from a gap in the clouds, but the forecast was not good. Wet weather was predicted later that afternoon which didn’t bode well for the success of a garden party. They climbed out of the car, something Vicky was still learning to do without revealing too much of her legs. The BMW was very low and the seats felt as if they were only just above the tarmac.

‘Tell me again, Thomas is the name of your friend from pony club, isn’t it? And what about other members of his family?’

Victoria shook her head in frustration. ‘I really can’t remember, it was all so long ago. I’m pretty sure his mother’s still alive, but I have no idea really. We’ll just have to see how it goes.’ She turned towards Katie as she straightened up. Both of them had opted for slim-fitting summer dresses showing a modest amount of leg – apart from when climbing out of the car. Both tugged the hems of their skirts down as they walked to the door. For Victoria, in particular, it was a new experience to have her knees on display. Bravely, she stuck out her hand and rang the doorbell. It was opened almost immediately by a child of six or seven.

‘Hello.’ The little girl was all dressed up and had real flowers in her hair. ‘Who are you?’

Just at that moment, an adult arrived. She was a friendly-looking woman who appeared to be a few years older than Katie, maybe in her mid or late thirties. She gave Victoria a big smile.

‘Oh, hi, hello. It’s Victoria, isn’t it? I remember you from pony club. I’m Beatrice. I’m Tom’s big sister.’ Victoria’s face cleared.

‘Hello, Beatrice, I do remember you. This is my friend Katie. I was just telling her I was afraid I wouldn’t remember any of you. It’s been so very long since I saw you.’ She paused awkwardly. ‘Since I saw anybody, really.’

Katie and Victoria shook hands with Beatrice and then, very formally, repeated the process with the little girl, who was introduced as Emma, Beatrice’s daughter. They followed her through the house and out through the French windows into the garden. There were already several dozen people out there, clutching glasses and chatting volubly. Katie noticed that a number of the women were wearing hats and she caught Victoria’s eye. Neither of them had thought of a hat.

‘It’s all right,’ Katie hissed to her out of the corner of her mouth. ‘It’s mostly just the old ones who’ve got hats.’

‘Victoria. It is you, Victoria, isn’t it? I’d know you anywhere.’ The voice came from the other side of the garden. A tall, dark-haired man was making his way through the people towards them. He was smiling broadly. Katie glanced at Victoria. She was smiling too.

‘Tommie? Little Tommie Drake?’ Victoria couldn’t believe her eyes. Her erstwhile playmate was now a grown man, wearing the uniform of an army officer. She held out her hand and he grasped it with both of his, shaking it enthusiastically up and down. ‘Not so little now, are you, Tommie?’

‘Wow! I was hoping I’d recognise you, but, wow!’ Tommie Drake sounded genuinely amazed. Remembering his manners, he turned to Katie and gave her a formal bow of the head. ‘Hello, my name is Thomas Drake. Nowadays everybody calls me Tom. Welcome and thanks for coming.’

Katie took the proffered hand, noting the strength of his grip. He was a handsome man and she found herself making comparisons with Martin. Same sort of height, slightly less muscular build, but clearly very fit. His hair was thick and strong, his face suntanned, his expression cheerful. She cleared her throat. ‘Thank you for letting me come along. You have a lovely house.’

‘Tommie… Tom, is your mother around? I’d like to say hello.’ Victoria was staring at him and Katie began to get the feeling that she maybe rather liked the look of what she could see.

‘Of course, come along and I’ll get you both a drink and then I’ll take you over to mother.’

‘Is there a special reason for the party?’ Victoria asked the question they had both been wondering about. He gave them a broad smile.

‘It was mother’s idea. I’ve just come home from my last tour of duty in Afghanistan and she thought it was something that should be celebrated.’ He handed Victoria a glass of chilled champagne and offered one to Katie.

‘Maybe something non-alcoholic, if that’s possible. I’m afraid I’m driving.’

‘Freshly made lemonade? The lemons are from our own trees.’

‘Wonderful.’ Katie found herself wondering how they could have lemon trees in Devonshire.

They stood and chatted for a while, or at least, Victoria and Tom chatted about events and people from their past. It was clear to Katie, listening in, that Tom was well aware that Victoria had disappeared from public view for many long years. He was doing his best, very diplomatically, not to mention this absence when they were joined by his mother. She had no such scruples.

‘Victoria, Victoria, how very good to see you after all these years.’ She was a large lady half-submerged beneath a hat apparently made from discarded fruit. Katie’s eyes widened and she took a surreptitious step backwards in case the weight of the thing caused it to collapse on them. ‘You look absolutely marvellous. You have no idea how happy I am to see you out and about after all this time.’

She grabbed Victoria’s shoulders, kissed her on both cheeks and they started chatting, or at least she carried on talking while Victoria supplied occasional monosyllabic responses. The subject of her enforced isolation from the world was soon brought up by Mrs Drake.

‘Every time I saw your father I used to bully him about you, you know. I told him it wasn’t natural to keep a little girl shut up like that, but it was no good. He had got it into his head that something awful would happen to you if you stepped off his land and nothing would shake him out of it.’ She took Victoria by the arm. ‘Now come along with me. I’ve got so many people you simply have to meet.’

Victoria cast Katie a look that told her not to worry and let herself be led off into the crowd. Katie found herself all alone with the handsome army officer.

‘So, how do you know Victoria, then, Katie?’

Victoria and Katie had discussed this eventuality before setting off and had come up with a suitable answer. Katie gave him a smile and launched into it. ‘I’m a teacher and I’ve been giving her some private tuition.’

‘Oh, yes? And what’s your subject?’

‘French and Italian.’

‘Ah, si, davvero? L’italiano é una lingua che mi piace moltissimo.’ He was grinning. She felt obliged to reply in kind.

‘Certo che lo parla molto bene, signore.’

‘Soprattutto quando posso parlare con una signorina cosí bella.’

Katie registered the compliment and decided it was better to return to their native language. ‘You’ve got a very good accent. How did you manage that?’

‘We’ve got a place in Tuscany. We’ve been going there every summer for goodness knows how many years. As kids, Bee and I just picked it up from the local kids.’

‘Oh how wonderful. So that’s where the lemons come from? I spent a year in Florence as a student and I’d love to go back.’

‘Well you know Sir Algernon’s got a place over there, don’t you?’ This was news to Katie.

‘I didn’t know that. Whereabouts is it?’

‘Not that far from us. Just on the hills to the west of Florence. Does Monte a Signa ring any bells?’

‘Vaguely. I’m sure I’ve been through it on the train. It’s quite close to Florence then?’

‘Fifteen minutes on the train or an hour by car through the traffic. In fact, I’m off over there next week with Bee and Emma.’ He caught her eye. ‘I know, why don’t you suggest to Victoria that you and she go over there for a few weeks? I’d be delighted to show the two of you around.’

‘That sounds like a wonderful idea. I’ll be sure to suggest it.’

‘Excellent. Now, let me introduce you to a few people.’ They set off across the garden. She found she rather liked the sensation of being on the arm of a soldier.

Chapter Seven

As Victoria’s first foray into the big wide social world, it had been an indisputable success. Victoria had chatted to most of the other guests and, when they returned to the car at almost six o’clock that Saturday afternoon, she was looking and sounding happy and animated.

‘I don’t think I’ve done so much talking in the space of a few hours ever in my life. It was non-stop. I’ve even got a bit of a sore throat as a result. I’ve met people I’ve only ever heard of before, and people I last saw in short trousers. Like Tommie… Tom, for example. So grown up.’

‘And so good-looking.’ Katie couldn’t resist flashing a glance across to the passenger seat. She saw that Victoria was blushing and she couldn’t resist adding another comment. ‘There’s something about a man in uniform!’

There was silence for a while before Victoria replied, choosing her words carefully. ‘It’s very funny when you meet somebody again like that. I’ve carried a memory of him in my head for years and years, but it was just of him as a little boy. It’s silly, really. Logically, of course I must have known that he’d be a man in his twenties by now, but it came as a surprise all the same. And, yes, I suppose he is rather good-looking, isn’t he?’ She sounded unsure and embarrassed.

Katie and Victoria hadn’t had The Talk yet. Although they had skated round the subject a few times, neither of them had brought it up directly. Sex was something that had yet to enter their conversations. Katie had, of course, been wondering about it since she and Victoria had met, and it seemed pretty obvious to her that the girl had to still be a virgin. Considering that the youngest man she had seen on the estate was Mr Mackintosh, there would appear to have been little opportunity for Victoria to experiment, even if she had wanted to. The thought crossed Katie’s mind that the lack of young male blood in her vicinity had no doubt been pre-planned by her over-protective father.

She had no doubts that The Talk was long overdue. For the first time in her life, she began to feel the discomfort many parents feel when the time comes to broach that thorny subject. She decided to let Victoria take her time. She obviously knew about the birds and the bees; after all she had lived all her life on a farm. The complex world of emotions would have to be explored gently and cautiously.

‘So, are you going to see him again any time soon?’

‘He tells me he’s going to Italy next week.’ Katie could hear that Victoria was trying hard to keep her voice expressionless. ‘My father bought a property over there, in Tuscany, years and years ago. He used to go over five or six times a year, sometimes more, but he never took me with him.’ The regret was all too clear in her voice. ‘Tom was telling me it’s not too far from their house. I’ve been thinking for some time now of going to see it. I thought that would be a good first experience of overseas travel.’

Katie remembered the wording of the original advert in The Lady. ‘Well, if you feel like a trip to Tuscany, I’d love to come with you. I spent a year there when I was at university and I fell in love with the place’ As she spoke, she felt a charge of excitement. Tuscany was Tuscany, after all. ‘So what’s your father’s house like?’

‘I’ll show you some photos when we get home.’ Victoria was on safer ground here and Katie could hear relief in her voice at the change of subject. ‘It’s rather nice; very old and surrounded by cypresses and umbrella pines.’

‘Sounds amazing. But has it just been sitting empty for years?’

‘I was talking to Mr Evergreen about it a few weeks ago. You know he manages our affairs for us, don’t you? It’s a farm really, a tenuta. They’ve got olive trees and vines mainly. The oil we use and the red wine we drink at Iddlescombe are sent over from there. It’s run by a man called Nando Rufina and his wife. They live in the old farmhouse and keep an eye on the villa for us.’

‘I can’t wait to see it.’

‘If you like, I could ring him up and ask him to get the house ready for us. We could even go over there next week if you like. Shall I do that?’

Katie had no doubts at all. ‘That sounds awesome. Great idea.’

Victoria glanced at the clock on the dashboard. It was almost six o’clock. ‘What time are you picking your friend up?’ Once she had heard that Katie and Jenny were planning on staying overnight in a hotel in Exeter, Victoria had insisted that Katie bring her friend to Iddlescombe. Katie had accepted eagerly as she really wanted Jenny to meet Victoria and to experience the lap of luxury in which she now found herself.

‘Just before seven. I should have bags of time.’

When they got home, Victoria decided to carry on playing with her laptop, now that the broadband connection had been installed. She told Katie to drive safely and headed for her study, humming a tune. Katie was particularly impressed to recognise that what she was humming was Coldplay, not Mozart. Victoria’s introduction to the twenty-first century was moving along. BT had also supplied a clever bit of apparatus that now provided the house with a mobile phone signal. As a result, Victoria was now the proud owner of a smart phone. More importantly for Katie, she now had a private line to the outside world.

The drive down from Iddlescombe was uneventful, in spite of the persistent drizzle. She spent much of the journey thinking about Martin. She hadn’t phoned him yet, but she had been thinking about him. She got on very well with him, she found him very attractive and she sensed that he was very fond of her. In so many ways he was an ideal choice, for somebody who wanted a new man. The question she kept turning over in her head was, Do I want a new man? The one thing she knew with certainty was that she wanted a career. She wanted a job that would challenge her and satisfy her. And, above all, she wanted a job that would give her financial independence. Martin, as a solicitor, would no doubt be able to provide for her, but she had no intention of becoming a trophy wife. When and if she decided to settle down, it would be on her terms.

She found a parking space opposite St David’s station and walked across to wait under cover. The rain was coming down harder now and she was glad of the huge BMW umbrella that had come with the car. To her surprise, Jenny was already there, even though it was only a quarter to seven.

‘Wow, Jen, how did that happen?’

‘The train before mine was running late so I managed to hop on. I got here five minutes ago.’ Katie led her out and across to the car, both of them sheltering under the umbrella. Jenny stopped and stared as they reached the car. ‘Bloody hell, Katie, what’s this you’re driving? It’s amazing!’ Even in a downpour, Katie had to agree that the silver sports car did look rather good. She gave her a broad smile.

‘Tip of the iceberg, Jen. Tip of the iceberg. Nothing but the best for Victoria.’ They climbed in and she threw the dripping umbrella onto the tiny rear seats. ‘You are now entering the proverbial lap of luxury. Enjoy it!’

As they drove back up the Exe valley towards Iddlescombe, they chatted. Katie recounted her experiences since arriving in Devon two weeks previously. Jenny was amazed as she heard more detail about Victoria.

‘Locked up for twenty-five years? That’s amazing.’ She glanced out of the car window as the rain continued to pour down. ‘With all the money she’s got, I’m surprised she stays in soggy old England.’

‘Ah, that’s being taken care of. We’re going off to their villa in Tuscany some time very soon.’

Jenny returned her attention to Katie. She knew full well just how hard things had been for her recently. Now she was delighted to see her looking and sounding much better, much more positive. ‘Tuscany, that’s where you said you wanted to go, isn’t it? I can see you now, basking in the Italian sunshine, a glass of Italian wine in your right hand and a handsome dark-haired Italian Adonis in your left.’

A sign appeared through the gloom, indicating they had reached Nymptonford. Katie slowed at a junction and then turned off onto a much narrower road. ‘Twenty minutes through the lanes and we’re there.’ She glanced across with a smile. ‘And Adonis was Greek, not Italian.’

‘My mistake. As long as they’ve got long black hair and dark brown eyes, I’m not fussy. And talking of men, you’ll never guess who I saw only yesterday.’

Katie was driving slowly, secretly rather awed at the volume of water streaming down both sides of the lane. She didn’t dare take her eyes off the road ahead. ‘I’m assuming it wasn’t Adonis. You would probably have told me already if you’d seen him.’

‘Martin.’

In spite of her good intentions, Katie glanced sideways. ‘Martin? How was he?’

There was a pause while Jenny looked for the right word. In the end she settled for, ‘Frustrated.’

‘You’re going to have to explain.’ Headlights appeared ahead of them and Katie squeezed halfway off the road to allow a huge milk tanker to come past. ‘What’s he got to feel frustrated about?’

‘You, I think.’ Jenny was smiling. ‘Or, rather, the lack of you. He’s been trying to contact you and your phone seems permanently off. Are you trying to avoid the poor boy?’

Katie explained about the poor reception at the manor and how the problem had only been resolved the previous afternoon. ‘I’ve been meaning to call him.’ The road now clear again, she shot a sideways look at Jenny. ‘So you think he’s interested, do you?’

‘Interested? Only in the same way that Romeo was interested in Juliet. If you want my honest opinion, I think all you’d have to do would be to snap your fingers and he’d be there like a little dog with his tail wagging.’

‘A dog? Now that’s a thought. We never had one at home and I’ve always wanted one.’

‘But they’re smelly and disobedient and you have to run around clearing up after them.’

Katie glanced at Jenny. ‘After seven years with Dean, I know all about that, thank you. No, a dog might well be the answer for me. I really don’t know if I fancy hooking up with anybody again for a while. Like I’ve been telling you, I’m looking for a new career and I’m prepared to do what you’ve done and bury myself in it. There’ll be time for men once I’ve got the work side of things sorted out. Although, I must admit that if I was thinking of it, Martin would be high on my list of potential conquests.’

‘Well, that’s up to you, but I did tell him I’d ask you to give him a call.’

‘And I will. Promise.’ At that moment they emerged from the trees into the wider part of the valley. The rain was still falling, but the visibility was better out here. Katie pointed across towards Iddlescombe Manor as it emerged from the murk. ‘We’re almost there. Not a bad little place, is it?’

‘Bloody hell.’ For once, Jenny was totally at a loss for words.

‘Welcome to Iddlescombe Manor, Jenny. I’m so glad you decided to come.’ Victoria was waiting for them in the sitting room, where a fire had been lit in the huge fireplace, even though they were in the month of July. She glanced at Katie. ‘Not the nicest of nights for driving.’

Katie shook her head. ‘Definitely not great. There was a moment on the way up here when it looked like we were driving up a river.’ She accepted a glass of champagne and grinned at the expression of awe on Jenny’s face as Rosie in her maid’s uniform went over to her with the silver tray.

‘Thank you so much for inviting me here, Victoria. It’s an amazing place.’ Jenny remembered her manners.

Victoria gave a shrug of her shoulders. ‘I suppose it is really, but for me it’s just the place I live. I don’t really have any standard of comparison.’

Katie wasn’t going to let her get too introspective. ‘Well, if it helps, the whole flat I lived in for seven years with Dean would fit into this room quite easily.’

‘But I don’t have a Dean.’ Victoria’s tone was still a bit melancholy. Katie wondered if she had been watching something gloomy on TV.

‘Well, you’re better off without one of those. We were just saying on the way up that a dog would be far less trouble.’

‘But you can’t have a conversation with a dog.’

Katie gave her a grin. ‘Try talking to a man when there’s football on the television. Trust me, you get much more in the way of communication from a dog.’ She turned to Jenny. ‘Isn’t it about time you got yourself a dog? Or a man?’

Jenny smiled. ‘I don’t think I’ve got time for either at the moment.’ She looked across at Victoria and explained. ‘I run my own business. It’s a six day a week job, but I love it. It doesn’t give me much in the way of free time, but that suits me fine for now. I’m a bit like Katie at the moment. Men; I can take them or leave them for now. There’ll come a time, but not yet.’

Victoria looked across at Katie. ‘So you’re not on the lookout for another man? I thought you told me there was one on the horizon.’

Katie glanced across at Jenny. ‘There’s Martin. He’s a nice man.’

Even Victoria realised that “nice” was a bit feeble. She caught Katie’s eye. ‘Is that all?’

‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to make it sound like he’s boring. I like him a lot.’ She addressed herself to Victoria and did her best to explain. ‘He’s tall, handsome and clever. He’s a solicitor and he plays rugby as a hobby. He would make a really good choice for a boyfriend; maybe more.’

‘So, why the hesitation?’ Victoria was having trouble working it out. Had she but realised, so was Katie, and she had been for the last week.

‘I don’t know. I thought I’d chosen a satisfying career in teaching, but it all went belly up’ Katie checked Victoria’s expression to see that she had understood the analogy. Reassured, she went on. ‘I’m thirty and I’m at a crossroads in my working life. Nice as Martin is, I get the feeling he’s looking for something serious; maybe thinking of settling down. I really don’t want to hitch myself up at this stage to a life as a housewife; dinner parties, driving the school run every day, taking the dog to the vet. I’m looking for more out of life.’ As she spoke, she could see from the expression on Victoria’s face that she would have welcomed the attentions of a tall, handsome man. But maybe she had just found one in Tom, the army officer. Katie was quick to reassure her.

‘Now if, on the other hand, I was an attractive twenty-five-year-old on the pull, that would be a very different matter.’ Although this expression hadn’t cropped up before, she could see from Victoria’s blush that she had understood its significance. Katie couldn’t resist a little dig. ‘Like a certain handsome army officer for example.’

They chatted until Mrs Milliner came to tell them that dinner was served. Over roast lamb with all the trimmings Katie and Jenny reminisced about Bournemouth, from the time they were schoolgirls together right up to the present day. Katie couldn’t help noticing Victoria’s interest as they discussed the series of boys and young men with whom they used to hang out. She found herself wondering yet again just how it might feel to have grown to adulthood without any of these experiences, not even school dances or sleepover parties.

After dinner they sat by the fire and Victoria insisted upon opening another bottle of champagne. As the level in the bottle dropped, Victoria began to loosen up. As she talked, Katie gradually began to realise why she had appeared a bit low earlier on that evening. It was because her brain had been working overtime.

‘We went to a party this afternoon,’ Victoria was explaining to Jenny, although Katie had already told her most of it. ‘Do you know something? I’m twenty-five years old and that was my very first party.’ She glanced at Katie. ‘Apart from a few kids’ parties while my mother was still alive.’ Turning back to Jenny, she continued. ‘It was the strangest thing. For a while this afternoon, I felt almost like an alien. You know, somebody from another planet just looking on, studying the behaviour of these strange beings.’

‘One of whom was a very handsome being.’ Katie was determined to keep the mood positive. She was, however, fascinated to hear Victoria talking about the way she felt. Up till then, apart from the admission that she had tried to run away as a teenager, she hadn’t given much away. Katie was pleased to see two spots of colour in Victoria’s cheeks appear at the mention of Tom.

‘Yes, one of whom was very handsome.’ She glanced at Katie. ‘Although I found it difficult to talk to him. After all, I couldn’t really just say, “Oh, Tom, you’re so handsome.” Or is that what girls do these days?’

‘Only after a lot more booze than we’ve had this evening.’ Jenny was smiling. ‘Anyway, it’s only natural to feel a bit strange the first few times you go out in public. You’ll get the hang of it soon enough.’

Katie joined in to help raise her spirits. ‘You may not realise it yet, but you’re going to be fighting the men off before long. And, if it helps, I found myself feeling pretty much like you at the party this afternoon. I didn’t know anybody there and I’ve never been to a garden party before. I haven’t had little sandwiches with the crusts cut off since I was a toddler and some of those hats wouldn’t have looked out of place on a witch doctor.’

Victoria giggled. ‘Even Tom was embarrassed by his mother’s hat.’ Katie was delighted to see her smile and vowed to do her best to keep her happy. As it turned out, she needn’t have worried. As they were talking, Victoria’s new phone whistled. She had received her first text message. And, if that weren’t exciting enough, she saw that it was from Tom. Victoria’s smile broadened.

‘How do I do it, Katie?’ The other girls smiled to see her hopping up and down like a youngster. Katie leant across and showed her how to open the message and then sat back as Victoria read it. Her cheeks reddened as she read it through two or three times.

‘So…? He didn’t waste much time, did he?’ Katie and Jenny exchanged glances.

‘He says he loved meeting me and he looks forward to seeing me in Tuscany.’ Victoria looked embarrassed. ‘And he signs it, “xx Tom”. That’s good, isn’t it?’

Katie nodded. ‘That’s good; xx is definitely good. Talking of Tuscany, when are you going to contact your man about our visit?’

Victoria looked up. ‘I’m sorry, I should have told you. I phoned him this evening before you two came back. There’s nothing special to keep us here, so, it that’s all right with you, we could travel over in a few days’ time. I was going to ask you, Katie; how would you feel about driving over, rather than taking the plane? You see,’ she turned to Jenny apologetically, ‘I’ve never been abroad and I’d love to see a bit of France on the way.’

‘That sounds like a great idea.’ Katie glanced across at Jenny. ‘We’ll think of you when we’re lying in the sun.’

‘With a glass of wine in your right hand and a…’

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