The Impatient Virgin. ANNE WEALE
Van gave Anny a smile. After greeting the old lady with his usual warmth, he introduced his companion.
‘Theodora, this is Maddy Forrester. She’s the great-granddaughter of a friend of yours, Virginia Forrester... Virginia Ferguson as she was when you knew her.’
The discovery that Van and the redhead had links going back to the time when the contessa was young made Anny’s spirits sink even lower. But when it was her turn to be introduced, she forced herself to behave as if she was delighted to meet Maddy.
Two days later, most of which Van had spent in the old lady’s company, leaving Maddy to get to know the Howards, Sea Dreams left her anchorage on a southwest course for the Balearics.
‘Thanks for looking after Maddy for me,’ said Van, following Anny below decks while Bart was letting the American girl take the helm for a short time. ‘I wanted to spend as much time as possible with Theodora. She’s aged a lot, hasn’t she?’
Anny nodded. ‘I don’t think she’s going to be here very much longer,’ she said sadly.
‘When I saw how things stood I wanted to cancel the trip and stay with her,’ said Van. ‘Maddy wouldn’t have minded. But Theodora wouldn’t hear of it. She became quite distressed.’
Anny knew, but perhaps he might not, that Theodora’s husband had proposed to her when they had both been guests on a large and extremely luxurious American yacht. Perhaps she hoped history would repeat itself and by the time they returned Van and Maddy would have sealed their relationship on board the schooner.
‘When you said you were bringing a friend, we assumed she was coming with you from America,’ she said, starting preparations for lunch. ‘Then Maddy explained she lives in Paris. I’m hoping she’ll convince Bart that if I get a job there I won’t be risking my neck every time I go out of the door.’
Van stationed himself where he wouldn’t be in her way. In the confined space between decks he seemed even larger than usual.
‘Maddy’s been there a couple of years. I expect she’s told you she works for the Paris bureau of CNN. Her brother and I were at college together so we go back a long way. But there was a break of a few years before we ran into each other while she was back in New York. D’you like her?’
‘Who wouldn’t?’ said Anny, rinsing lettuce.
‘How’s the writing going? What have you sold since I last saw you?’
She told him, adding, ‘Van, would you look at my CV...tell me how to improve it?’
‘Maddy’s your best advisor. We’ll both look at it for you.’
‘Thanks.’
But Anny didn’t want their combined opinion. She wanted to recapture, if only briefly, the close companionship of previous voyages.
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.