‘So …’ Bella offered her a wafer-thin sandwich, and after Olivia had bitten into its smoked salmon filling, she added: ‘Tell me about Paris. Is it still as exciting as you thought? Or are you glad to be home again?’
Olivia chose her words with caution. ‘Paris is always exciting,’ she remarked offhandedly, helping herself to another sandwich. ‘Mmm, these are delicious, Bella. And are those strawberries under that cover? Ooh, gorgeous! I love strawberries and cream on a hot afternoon.’
Bella contained her curiosity, and spooned some of the juicy berries into a dish. ‘Thomas picked them this morning, especially for you,’ she observed dryly. ‘He told me there were none yesterday when Mrs Morrison came to tea, and then this afternoon, he produced all these.’
Olivia chuckled, touched that the old gardener should have wanted to please her, when she had neglected Copley for so long. ‘I’ll go and thank him afterwards. He knows they’re my favourite fruit.’
‘Yes.’ Bella eyed her candidly. ‘Well, you look all right, I must say. A bit skinny perhaps, but I expect that’s all that fancy French cooking.’
‘I beg your pardon!’ Olivia pretended offence, sitting up and pushing her breasts forward. ‘I’ll have you know, my figure was the envy of a lot of girls.’ She looked down in mock appraisal. ‘I must say, I thought it wasn’t bad myself.’
‘Excuse me …’
Alex was standing in the doorway, watching the proceedings, and Olivia subsided with an embarrassed giggle. Bella looked at the young man ruefully, and smiling said: ‘Come along in, Alex. You’re not interrupting anything. Do you want some tea?’
‘Oh, no, thank you.’ Alex’s thin face was still a little flushed. ‘I—er—I’ve put Olivia’s cases in her room and now I thought I’d go to the bank. Is there anything you want in Chelmsbury?’
Bella hesitated. ‘I don’t think so, Alex, thank you. How about you, Olivia? Can Alex get anything for you?’
Olivia forced herself to sit up, shaking her head. ‘I’ve got everything I need,’ she assured him, smilingly. ‘But if you’re going in tomorrow afternoon, I’ll have a lift with you. I can always trot around the shops while you attend to your own affairs.’
Alex’s responding smile was stiff. ‘I’ll take you into Chelmsbury, any time you want to go,’ he assured her politely, and then left them as abruptly as he had appeared.
A few moments later, the sound of the Mercedes’ engine started up and the crunch of the tyres on the gravelled drive signified his departure, and Bella heaved a sigh of relief.
‘Honestly, that man is so intense,’ she declared. ‘And you mustn’t tease him. I’d hate for there to be complications.’
‘Complications?’ Olivia frowned. ‘What kind of complications?’
‘Oh …’ Bella shifted uncomfortably, pouring herself a second cup of tea. ‘You know! If he should get the wrong ideas about you. I know Richard would never countenance such a thing, and Alex would get terribly hurt in the process.’
Olivia gasped. ‘You’re not serious!’
‘Why ever not? You’re a very attractive young woman, as well you know, and Alex is a man, just like any other. Don’t let his controlled manner fool you. He’s just as susceptible to flattery as anyone else.’
Olivia moved her slim shoulders in a helpless gesture. ‘I never thought … I mean, heavens, he’s at least twelve years older than I am.’
‘What’s that to the purpose? Richard’s father was almost twenty years older than your mother,’ retorted Bella severely, and then left the matter to ask about the friends Olivia had made in France, and the Charpentiers, whom she had stayed with at Easter.
It was easy enough for Olivia to talk about Michelle and her family. They lived at Tours, in the Loire valley, and Olivia had been enchanted by their home and the surrounding countryside. There were orchards and vineyards, and the chateaux which were world-famous, and Michelle and her two brothers had enjoyed showing her their historic heritage. They had driven to Angers and Orleans, visited Amboise, where Leonardo da Vinci had lived and died, and eaten some of the most superb food Olivia had ever tasted. They had even attended a wine fair, she confessed, but noticing how put out Bella was looking, she quickly assured her that she was glad to be home, and that Copley was her first love.
‘These young men,’ said Bella, as Olivia attacked her dish of strawberries and cream, ‘Michelle’s brothers: they were attracted to you?’
Olivia felt the colour invading her cheeks, and delved more deeply into her bowl. ‘I suppose so,’ she mumbled, remembering the older one, Paul, who had taught her there was more to kissing than the pressure of two pairs of lips, and saw Bella’s mouth turn down at the corners. ‘They were boys, that’s all,’ she protested, half laughing now. ‘Seventeen and eighteen, I think. They didn’t seduce me, if that’s what you’re afraid of.’
Bella snorted, but her eyes were piercing. ‘Has anyone?’
‘No!’ Olivia was indignant. ‘Of course not.’ But she knew Jules would have tried to if they had known one another longer. It was the way, after all. All the girls said so, even Michelle, who was engaged to a young medical student from the hospital in Tours. His name had been Charles, and Olivia had found him quite amusing until he tried to corner her on the first floor landing of the Charpentiers’ house one evening when his fiancée was watching television downstairs. She hadn’t liked that. It had made her feel dirty. And she had been glad they were returning to Paris the next day so that Michelle should not find out and be hurt.
‘I never approved of your going to that French academy,’ Bella was saying now, as Olivia finished her strawberries and pushed the dish aside. ‘An innocent young girl in a place like that. Asking for trouble, that’s what I say.’
‘But Richard wanted me to go,’ exclaimed Olivia patiently. ‘I think he wanted me to grow up, to be independent. He knew that boarding school in England hadn’t achieved so much, and going away, to another country, was bound to make me more self-reliant.’
‘Mmm.’ Bella sounded unconvinced. ‘Well, I can’t say I’m not glad you’re back, and for good. There’s plenty for you to do here, and I’ve no doubt the telephone will start ringing just as soon as your friends hear that you’re home.’
‘Oh, but …’ Olivia caught her lower lip between her teeth, and then released it again. ‘I can’t stay here for ever, Bella. I mean—sooner or later I’m bound to go away, aren’t I? And if I took a job, or got married——’
‘Married!’ Bella sounded horrified. ‘And who are you going to marry, may I ask?’ Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. ‘Are you keeping something from me? Is there something I should know about? You’ve not met some young man you’re not telling me about, have you?’
‘Oh, no. No!’
Olivia rose abruptly to her feet, unable to sit still beneath Bella’s penetrating appraisal. She walked quickly across to the french doors, thrusting her hands into the pockets of her dress and staring out broodingly on to the manicured green lawns beyond the terrace. She couldn’t confide in Bella yet, she decided uneasily. She needed time, time to adjust to her new freedom, to the possibilities that now faced her. When the time was right, she would tell her about Jules, but until then …
‘Aren’t