‘My head isn’t too bad, but my shoulder and side feel as if they’ve been bashed with a sledgehammer.’
‘It’s time for a couple more pills. But they don’t mix well with alcohol, so no more drinking until you’ve stopped taking them.’
‘When will that be?’
‘When I say,’ she told him with quiet authority.
He took them from her, and accepted a glass of water, as docile now as he’d been aggressive before. When he lay back she turned out the lamp again, so that the only light in the room was the soft touch of moonlight.
‘There’s something different about you,’ he said suddenly. ‘You’ve changed your clothes.’
‘Yes, I’m here for a few days. I’ve checked out of my hotel and into the room next door.’
‘How did Mamma persuade you to do that?’
‘Good heavens—you don’t think she asked me first, do you?’
He gave a short bark of laughter that ended in a gasp of pain. ‘Of course. I should have remembered Mamma’s way. When did you find out?’
‘When my things arrived.’
‘I’m sorry. Just taking you over like that—what about your holiday?’
‘That doesn’t matter,’ she said hastily. ‘Go to sleep now.’
He stared at her for a while before saying vaguely, ‘Was it you by the track?’
‘Yes, it was me.’
‘Are you sure? No—that’s stupid—I mean—’
‘Who did you think it was?’ she risked saying.
‘What?’
‘I need to know how much you can remember. It’ll tell me how serious your concussion is.’
‘I did several laps and everything was all right. But then—’ He took a long, shaking breath. ‘Why did you come onto the track?’
‘I didn’t.’
‘But you did. You were walking straight towards me, and your hair was blowing in the wind. I could have ridden right over you, but you didn’t seem to realise that. You were smiling—like the time—’
His breathing was becoming laboured and she went to him quickly, trying to soothe him.
‘It wasn’t me. Truly. It was the speed that confused you, and that visor. You couldn’t have seen anything properly. Just an illusion—someone who wasn’t really there.’
‘But—she was there,’ he whispered. ‘I saw her—’
‘You couldn’t have. It’s impossible.’
‘How can you be sure?’
‘Because—’Suddenly realising that she was straying onto a dangerous path, she checked herself. At this moment she couldn’t tell him why she was sure he would never see Sapphire again. The truth would crush him.
‘Because if there had been anyone on the track you’d have hit them,’ she said.
‘You can’t hit a ghost,’ he said wearily. ‘Do you believe in ghosts?’
‘Yes,’ she murmured, saying it almost against her will. ‘I try not to, but sometimes people just won’t let go—no matter what you do, they’re always with you.’
‘So you know that too?’
‘Yes,’ she said quietly. ‘I know that too. Go to sleep now.’
He moved his hand forward and back, then sideways, as though searching for something. She reached out and took his hand, feeling the tension in it.
‘It’s going to be all right,’ she said.
Some corner of his mind—the part of him that argued with everything—wanted to demand how she could be so sure. But the argument retreated before the reassurance of her clasp. His thoughts were confused.
She’d said, ‘Please don’t argue with me. It’s a waste of time,’—talking like his mother. He’d tried to be annoyed, but it had been a relief to have her rescue him from the hole that his pride had dug for him. Hell would freeze over before he admitted that he’d been ready to collapse into bed, but she’d known without being told.
At last the tension began to fade. His eyes closed, his hand relaxed, and he was asleep.
As dawn broke Hope looked in.
‘Is he all right?’
‘Sleeping like a baby,’ Polly assured her.
‘Then why don’t you go and get some sleep? I’ll take over for a while.’
‘Thank you.’
In her own room she snuggled blissfully down in the luxurious bed. When she awoke the sun was high in the sky. She stood under the shower, wondering what the day would bring and whether she would get the chance to fulfil her mission.
As she finished dressing she looked at her watch and was shocked to see that it was ten o’clock.
‘Hope said to let you sleep,’ said Evie, who’d just popped in.
‘I’d better go and see my patient.’
‘I’ll send your breakfast up.’
She paused outside Ruggiero’s room, wondering how difficult he would be this morning, and how much he would remember of the night before. She found him watching the door.
‘Come in,’ he said.
He sounded cautious, and she felt much the same as she approached the bed. Neither was quite sure of the other’s mood, and for a moment they looked at each other.
‘I apologise,’ he said at last.
‘For—what?’
‘For whatever I did. I don’t remember much about last night, but I’m pretty sure I acted unforgivably.’
‘You acted like a damned fool,’ she said frankly. ‘Like a complete and total idiot. I’ve never seen such blinding stupidity in my whole life.’
‘Hey, don’t sit on the fence. Tell me what you really think of me.’
That broke the ice, and they shared a grin.
‘Yes, I guess I shouldn’t have gone clowning around after bumping my head,’ he admitted. ‘But, hey, it’s a tough world. Don’t let them see any sign of weakness or the tigers pounce.’
‘But they weren’t tigers at that track,’ she said. ‘They were your friends. And perhaps having to impress people all the time is also a sign of weakness.’
He looked alarmed. ‘Are you going to psychoanalyse me?’
‘That’s all for today. I’ll save the rest until you’re feeling better.’
‘I’m all right,’ he said in a dispirited voice. ‘Except that I don’t seem to have any energy.’
‘You’ve probably got a hangover as well as everything else. I want you to stay in bed for a while. Or are you going to fight me about that?’
‘No, ma’am. I’m sure you know best.’
She regarded him cynically. ‘You must be worse than I thought.’
There was no chance to say more, because Evie appeared with Polly’s breakfast, and after that the rest of the family came to say goodbye before returning to their distant homes. Ruggiero greeted them all boisterously, cracked jokes and generally acted the part of a man who was on top of the world. But