She had so very nearly confided in dear old Roddy last night down at the boathouse, but she hadn’t had the courage. Because as long as she was the only one who knew she was pregnant, she could almost get through each day believing it wasn’t true, that it was all in her imagination.
Back at the house now, she stepped into the drawing room through the open French doors. Romily was there, sitting at the walnut desk, her head lowered as the pen in her hand scratched across the lined page of a notebook. She looked up when she realised she wasn’t alone.
‘I’m sorry if I disturbed you,’ Allegra said, deciding to assume the role of apologetic house guest. Which in so many ways was perfectly apt, given that the atmosphere was akin to a stage play of a country-house drama.
Putting her pen down and straightening her back, Romily said, ‘That’s all right. I really should stop for lunch now.’
‘Are you working?’ More acting – contriving to show interest.
Romily nodded. ‘Yes. Does that seem very callous to you? Jack only buried yesterday, but here I am writing?’
Allegra shrugged. ‘Not really. If it helps, why not? I wish I had something to do, other than waft about the house and garden. I’m bored out of my mind.’ She made a performance of drifting over towards a small occasional table and bending down to breathe in the fragrance of a vase of sweet peas.
‘We could put you to work in the garden if you like,’ Romily said. ‘I’m sure your help would be appreciated; there’s always plenty to do.’
Allegra affected another careless shrug. ‘And I’m equally sure I would be as good as useless. I have no idea what to do to make things grow.’
‘I’m told gardens are like children: if fed well and given a firm hand now and then, they flourish quite happily.’
Flopping into the armchair near the open door, Allegra adopted a friendly smile, the sort to invite a sharing of confidences. ‘Can I ask you a personal question?’ she said.
‘Of course. I’m sure you have many you’d like to put to me.’
‘Had my uncle lived, do you think you would have had children?’
Romily picked up the fountain pen and twirled it slowly between her fingers. Allegra could see she had not expected the question. But then she herself hadn’t expected to ask something quite so personal either, or something so close to home.
‘I don’t think I know the answer to that,’ Romily said. ‘Not in all honesty. It wasn’t something we ever discussed. Why do you ask?’
‘I suppose I’m just curious,’ Allegra said mildly, trying again to affect a persona of casual indifference. ‘You don’t appear to be the maternal type, but you seem quite at ease with Annelise.’
‘I don’t believe I am the maternal type, but Annelise is easy to like, wouldn’t you agree?’
Leaning back in the comfort of the chair, Allegra crossed her legs, then uncrossed them. ‘Maybe that’s because we can’t help but feel sorry for her.’
‘You could be right. What about you, Allegra, do you think you’ll have children one day?’
She was saved from answering the question by the shrill ringing of the telephone on the desk. ‘I’ll see you in the dining room,’ Romily said as she reached for the receiver and picked it up.
Having been summarily dismissed, and wondering why on earth she had started the conversation in the first place, Allegra went upstairs to freshen up. She was on her way back down when she saw Kit coming in through the front door. He was whistling jauntily and looking particularly pleased with himself.
‘You were out a long time posting those letters,’ she said. ‘Were you trying to avoid spending any time with the rest of us?’
‘Perish the thought, Allegra. Actually, I bumped into someone I haven’t seen in a long time. Do you remember Evelyn Flowerday?’
Allegra thought for a moment, searching back through her memory to the last time she had been here at Island House. ‘Do you mean that clever girl you were always pining for?’ she said eventually.
He frowned. ‘I wouldn’t go so far as to say that, but yes, that supremely clever girl.’
‘How very agreeable for you, a romantic stroll down memory lane.’
‘Once more, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that. But it was certainly pleasant seeing her again. Coming for lunch now?’
They crossed the hall together, and when Kit pushed open the dining room door and stepped aside to let her through first, and she thanked him, he said, ‘See, we can be perfectly civil to each other after all.’
‘The question is, can we maintain that civility for a full week?’
‘Oh, I think for the amount of money at stake, we can make a fair pretence of it, can’t we?’ remarked Arthur. He was standing at the far end of the dining room looking at the garden. ‘You of all people should be able to manage it, Allegra, being such a consummate actress.’
