What Happens in Tuscany... (7 page)

‘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!'