‘What did you think?’ asked Nick suspiciously.
‘Sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything, but Laura’s wearing your jacket and you’ve both got leaves in your hair…’
The grin grew more wicked as the heat rose up my face and I quickly started undoing the coat.
‘Don’t be cheeky!’ replied Nick. ‘Laura was very kindly helping me extract Steve from a bush.’
‘Not again?’
‘Yes, I’m afraid so.’
She shook her head despairingly, then lifted one gloved hand in farewell.
‘See you both later!’
We waved back, then stepped inside into a large, elegant hallway. The floors were clad in smooth flagstones with a faded but still beautiful rug lying across them. The walls were painted yellow and there was a marble fireplace that had a wood burner glowing in it. A graceful walnut staircase covered in thick cream carpet rose from the centre of the hall to a galleried landing and a tall grandfather clock stood to one side, tick-tocking in a loud but strangely comforting way. I wondered if Mum and my sister Steph would be more forgiving of me if they could see my new temporary home; these were exactly the surroundings they thought one ‘should’ live in. I had always been happy with mine and Paulo’s small house, but each to their own. Nick put down my luggage, and I shrugged off the coat and handed it to him.
‘Sorry about India,’ he said, hanging it on a nearby hatstand. ‘She’s fifteen and a bit sassy at times, but basically a nice kid. Angela!’
The sudden call made me jump, and then I heard a familiar tapping of heels coming along an unseen corridor. A white-painted door opened to the left of the hallway and out came a woman I recognised. Angela, a short, cosy-looking, smiling woman with greying blond hair pulled into a messy ponytail, wearing jeans and a flowery apron, had interviewed me in London and I was happy to see her again, her smile as welcoming and friendly as it had been then.
‘Nurse Wilde, how good to see you again. Er, are you all right?’
I touched my hair and could feel little bits of leaf and goodness knows what else still stuck in it, then moved my hand to my slightly sticky, grimy face.
‘Yes, I’m fine, I’m sorry I’m late, I was just, er…’
I glanced at Nick, who grinned impishly.
‘What Nurse Wilde means to say is that she was helping me rescue Steve from a bush.’
Angela raised an eyebrow.
‘Again?’
I was beginning to see a theme emerging here.
‘Again. Anyway, that explains why she’s a bit late, and, well…’
He broke off, apparently not wanting to seem ungallant.
‘Dishevelled,’ I put in. ‘Is there anywhere I can tidy up before I meet Marilise? Oh, and please do call me Laura.’
Angela tucked her arm through mine and led me down the passageway she had come from.
‘Come on, Laura. There’s a bathroom down here you can use, then join us for a cuppa in the kitchen. Marilise always has a morning nap around this time, so you won’t be able to meet her yet, anyway.’
I allowed myself to be steered down a wood-panelled corridor and into a cavernous bathroom, tiled in a startling shade of mustard yellow, with an avocado suite straight out of the nineteen seventies. I wondered which of the Princes had updated it; it was out of step with the rest of the house but felt more familiar to me than the grandeur I had seen so far. I shut the door with some relief, took a hairbrush out of my handbag and looked in the mirror. It was worse than I had realised. Steve’s claws had pulled large strands of hair out of its bun as he had scrambled over my head, and there were several twigs and leaves caught in it, sticking out at odd angles. I had a smear of mud over my right cheek and a long, red scratch on the left one. I looked like a scarecrow. Only my clothing – neat and clean, but not a uniform – had escaped unscathed, thanks to Nick’s coat. Quickly, I removed the band and pins from my hair and picked out the debris before running the brush through and tucking and twisting everything back into place. I dampened a tissue to clean off the mud and rooted around in my bag in the hope of finding some make-up I might be able to use to cover the scratch. I drew a blank; everything like that was in my suitcase, as I don’t usually have time or need for touch-ups during the day. Oh well, it would have to do. I gave my reflection my best and brightest nurse’s smile and headed for the kitchen.
TWO
The kitchen, a few steps away from the bathroom, was also large and, to my eyes, the epitome of the perfect country kitchen, straight out ofCountry Livingmagazine. A large wooden table with turned legs and dressed in a pretty flower-patterned oilcloth stood centrally. Wooden cupboards lined the walls, which were painted a warm ivory, with a fawn tiled splashback behind the deep butler’s sink. A cream-coloured aga stood on one side, emanating a gentle, comforting warmth and Steve lay on his side in front of it, fast asleep, a look of absolute bliss on his face. A bay window with a wide sill, cluttered with books, vases and other bits of life’s ephemera, looked out over the gardens and let in the weak November sunshine. Nick was sitting at the table, laughing to himself as he tapped away at his phone, and Angela was placing a fat, brown teapot on the table.
‘Come and sit down, love. Now, how do you like your tea?’
‘Just milk, no sugar please,’ I answered, pulling out a chair and finding an enormous, extremely furry black and white cat lying there. ‘Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you,’ I said, and stroked its soft body. It instantly started purring so loudly that it made Nick look up.
‘I see you’ve found Tolly,’ he said, smiling. ‘Scoop him up and put him on your lap, he’ll be perfectly happy.’
