‘So says their duchess?’
She gave a very regal wave of dismissal then said eagerly, ‘So, to the top?’ but just before she followed Ben out, she spotted the bear. Molly had wanted to bring him home to Devon with her, as obviously he would be lonely and frightened left in the lighthouse on his own, but she’d obviously forgotten to collect him in the excitement of being able to draw and leave a picture for Billy. Phillipa picked him up, turning him around in her hands. She said neutrally, ‘Steiff.’
Aleksey saw his other half roll his eyes, and bit his lip with amusement. If his ex had not been present, he’d have seized Ben and kissed him. He could feel a tingle of lust trickle down his spine, despite their long-drawn-out wake-up call only a few hours before, and in direct contrast to the still frosty atmosphere between them. Restorative powers of owing an island, he reckoned. He tried to catch Ben’s eye but to no avail, so only replied, ‘Yes, same era as the horse, I suppose.’
She was still turning the bear thoughtfully, fingering his little green and black scarf with the tiny pompoms. ‘No, Shadowfax is from the Victorian era. This is much later—1965 actually. Blond mohair with sawdust filling...’ She blew out her cheeks and turned sharply away. ‘Anyway, shall we go up and see the view?’ She didn’t wait for a reply and made her own way out of the bunk room.
Aleksey replaced the bear on one of the beds, resisted tucking him in once more, and followed Ben’s retreating back. The step out onto the gantry never lost its moment of exhilarating wonder. Phillipa clearly felt it too. Her mood, which seemed distracted, lifted, and she began to study the view from all angles, pacing slowly around the walkway. Just as Aleksey had done his first time, she bent and laid her forearms on the rail, studying the island. ‘What a bloody fool he was losing this.’
Aleksey didn’t reply. He really didn’t need to. He leaned on the rail next to her, amused to see she still wore the rings he’d bought for her over the years, and not any frombelovedexcept a plain gold wedding band.
‘He’s pretty bitter about it. He never really came here—hardly to his taste—but it’s a sibling thing, I suppose. Can’t stand being told what to do by his older brother. They can’t stand each other either. Never could. I think one being preferred so much didn’t do either of them any good.’
‘Perhaps it would be better if you stopped calling him The Spare—just a suggestion.’
She chuckled slyly then asked deceptively casually, ‘Did that ghastly German chappie ever give you any trouble about the sale?’
‘No. It’s been extremely peaceful here, as you can see.’ Ben was still on the other side of the tower, staring out over the sea stacks, so Aleksey was able to offer this very slight distortion of the truth with a straight face.
‘He’s missing, apparently.’
‘Really? Missing what?’
‘Hmm. Beloved flew to the conference they were having in Switzerland—he was giving a speech on how everyone else should give up flying, I do believe. But they were due to meet up afterwards for someplanning the futureprivate cabal thingy, and he never showed up.’
‘He should have planned his own future better then.’
She huffed slightly as if she heard more in this than was actually said, but possibly exactly as much as had been meant. She suddenly straightened and checked her watch—another gift from him—and smirked as she saw him admiring it. Then she glanced through the diamond-patterned glass to Ben’s hazy figure behind. ‘You like beautiful things.’
‘I do.’
‘Acquiring is not the same as retaining.’
‘No. One comes easily for me; the other seems to take a great deal of effort.’
She patted his arm. ‘Keep working at it. You’re doing rather well, if you ask me—and it’s not as if you’ve anything else useful to do, is it?’
They made their way back to the dock, slowly wandering along the northern coastline past Kittiwake, which she also thought he should start renovating and turning into asweet little cottage. He was tempted to askbetter than a croft on Islay?but didn’t want her to be reminded about the relative he still owed her. And definitely not in front of Ben.
When they arrived at the dock, she began rummaging in her handbag. ‘Ben, darling, I think I’ve left my sunglasses on one of the window seats…could you be a dear?’
Ben happily jogged back to Guillemot, and when he was out of sight she turned to stare out at the bay, watching the returning rowing boat. Then she toed the dock.
Studying her, hearing something in the silence he didn’t like, Aleksey asked, ‘What?’
‘Have you found anything odd about La Luz?’
‘Light Island.’
‘Oh, for God’s sake—Light Island then. Is there anything peculiar about it?’
He thought this was a particularly strange question for a start, but then it swiftly occurred to him that the place had been unusual from the moment he’d stepped foot on it. No, before that even. The coincidence of her family having it for sale at the exact same time he’d decided to buy an island still struck him as unsettlingly unlikely. ‘No, nothing particularly remarkable. As I said, it’s been extremely peaceful here. Why do you ask?’
She pursed her lips. ‘Not everything in life is how it seems, is it? Dear Lord, why am I asking you this? You’re an entirely different man to the one I was conned into marrying.’
‘Not really.’
She smiled, fondly he hoped, although it could have been scathingly. She glanced back towards the house as if expecting to see Ben returning any minute. ‘I blathered on about that story of the christening because it was so similar to when Molly wanted to give me Queen Phillipa’s prayer book last year. I thought it might help Ben understand that there are forces inThe Familythat sometimes even I have to obey—that all is not as it seems.’
