Island of Mermaids (30 page)

‘
Splendid!
’
was Lawrence
’
s comment. Althea was glad, too, for she knew her father had already expended considerable sums of money both on the shop and the improvements
”
to the Villa Stefano.

‘
Would you like to go to London, Althea?
’
he asked when they spoke of the details.
‘
You could settle almost everything in one personal visit that would take endless correspondence.
’

‘
Of course I
’
ll go,
’
she agreed.
‘
I can do any other bits of business you want at the same time.
’

‘
It
’
s a good idea to go now before the spring and summer season starts. I can spare you better now than later.
’

She was often grateful to her father that he placed such confidence in her and let her know that she was so useful to him.

On this visit to England she did not believe that he could make some ill-conceived arrangement for her to meet Kent. She had never spoken to her father of that last encounter with Kent and the subsequent shock of seeing the girl Jennifer in the hotel. Let the past with its shame and humilia
ti
on remain dead.

In London she decided to stay in the house, since all the formali
ti
es of transfer had not yet been settled. She could then son out any furniture that might be useful to herself at some future time or even be sent to the Villa Stefano.

‘
Don
’
t throw away or dispose of too much,
’
her father had advised.
‘
Remember the future. You might want a few pieces to set yourself up in a flat or a house of your own. Then, if you decide to live here for another year or so, we can always tell the store to dispose of them for us.
’

It took days to son out what she called the
‘
junk
’
and rubbish that accumulates in the course of years. With Mrs. Harvard
’
s help, the rooms gradually became less cluttered and the new owners were extremely glad to take many surplus pieces.

‘
It
’
s such a great help to have a carpet or two to stan
d
with,
’
said the woman. She and her husband had returned from a long stay abroad and had little in the way of furniture.

After the Villa Stefano with much of it redecorated and the rooms lit by the wonderful Mediterranean light, Althea saw her old home as dingy and shabby. She supposed this was inevitable when moving away. If she came back to live in London at some time in the future she would have a home as light and spacious as she could make it.

She took the opportunity to visit a furniture exhibition as well as several stores which were displaying new schemes in colour and decor. She could always suggest new ideas for further work at the villa.

The day came when the house purchase was completed and Althea moved out to stay for a night or two at a hotel before returning to Capri. She had only to see that her own furniture was sorted in the furniture repository and the items chosen for the villa packed and shipped to Capri. There were cases of her father
’
s and her own books, a few ornaments and a T
’
ang horse of which he was particularly fond.

Now that the parting had come, she felt a pang or two at leaving her old home. It was as though that chapter of her life was finished irrevocably and a new one not even uncertainly begun.

She was eager now to return to Capri and plunge herself in the business of buying and selling at
‘
Lorenzo
’
.

On her first visit to the shop the day after she arrived at the villa, she noticed that Brian
’
s studio was open. So he was back from North Africa and preparing for the new season here. She was glad, for she missed him to some extent. At least he was a man she could talk to easily and unselfconsciously.

She walked through the doorway of the studio and called,
‘
Brian! Anyone at home?
’

A light step sounded from the back of the room and Margot appeared.

‘
Oh! I
—’
began Althea, deeply embarrassed, yet glad.

Brian came into the studio from the street. He was carrying a couple of bottles of wine and a paper parcel that might be food.

‘
Oh, welcome, Althea! Welcome back!
’
His smiling face looked as though illumined from some inner joy.
‘
You
’
ve met Margot, I know.
’

The girl
’
s eyes softened, for she had been warily gazing at Althea.

Yes, we
’
ve met,
’
said Margot quietly.

Brian set down the bottles and the food and placed his arm around his wife. You
’
ve come just in time, Althea. We
’
ll all celebrate. We really have something to celebrate, thanks to you.
’

‘
I? I didn
’
t think I helped much.
’
Althea could see that Brian and Margot were on the happiest terms.

You did,
’
declared Brian, now opening one of the bottles.
‘
You made Margot wonder if you were a rival.
’
He turned a loving gaze on his wife.

‘
I didn
’
t mean to,
’
said Althea hastily and rather alarmed.

Margot smiled.
‘
That
’
s what worried me,
’
she admitted. You seemed so self-restrained and without an axe to grind that I rushed to the conclusion that Brian might—that I might lose him altogether.
’

‘
So a month ago she flew out to me in Tunisia—really to spy on me,
’
said Brian.

‘
I wanted to see what you were up to.
’
Margot took the glass of wine and raised it.
‘
Here
’
s to the three of us
!’

When Brian disappeared for a moment in search of plates for the food, Althea said to Margot,
‘
Wonderful news. I hope you
’
ll always be happy.
’

Margot came towards Althea and kissed her.
‘
I
’
m not a very demonstrative person,
’
she confessed,
‘
but I think your visit made me grow up. I saw things in perspective and I was relieved to know that Brian still loved me in spite of the bad way I
’
d treated him.
’

‘
No more partings, then
!’
It was Althea
’
s turn to raise her glass.

After a while she left the other couple together.
‘
I
’
ll be seeing you both quite a bit, I expect. We have the shop next door but one to you. If you need a flashy bit of silk for a dress come and see what we have.
’

She spent some time in the shop, rearranging displays, checking the stock lists, until it was time to return to the villa for lunch. On the way back she felt an irresistible urge to walk through Kent
’
s garden to his Villa Castagna. She
knew there would be no one there.

The garden had been neglected during his absence, last year
’
s dead flowers shrivelled on their stems, weeds flourished among the bushes. Leaves that had fallen last autumn from the trees lay untidily everywhere.

The villa looked forlorn and deserted. She walked along the partly-finished terrace, stepping
_o
ver
chunks of rock and pieces of broken columns, remembering painfully that first day when she had come here and met Kent as she tripped over a stone. Oh, why had she come today to revive those bitter memories? Through the window of what he called his
‘
salon
’
she could see packing cases, still labelled with an address in Naples. Probably the statuary pieces he had bought at the stonemasons. Never unpacked?

The piano was covered with a large piece of sacking and on the table beside it lay sheets of untidily-written music scores.

The atmosphere made her shiver and she was glad to escape along the path that led to Villa Stefano.

At lunch Carla announced that she had heard that Kent was not returning this year to his villa.

‘
That is sad, eh?
’
She darted a glance at Althea, who schooled her facial expression into one of indifference.

‘
How do you know that?
’
asked Lawrence, a trifle sharply.

‘
Assunta, the woman who looks after the villa for him, told Rosanna this morning. Assunta is looking for someone else to work for in the summer. She needs money for her family.
’

‘
Perhaps we can find a place for her,
’
suggested Emilia kindly.
‘
We will ask.
’

Lawrence gave her an appreciative look, but made no further remark.

Althea was hardly surprised that Kent had decided to call Capri a day. After all that had happened he could hardly show his face here, although he might even be brazen enough to bring Jennifer here with him. Before that, however, the Villa Castagna needed a good deal of work on it. So Althea need not feel apprehensive that one morning she would come face to face with him in Anacapri.

At
‘
Lorenzo
’
she found the time hang a little heavily at first, but as the season advanced and the first early summer visitors came to Capri from pans of Italy or merely for a day
’
s jaunt from Naples, business became brisker. The silks were similar to those they could buy elsewhere in Italy, but the lovely tweeds, the intricate hand-woven woollens in such glowing colours, these
captivated
the women customers.

By the end of May Lawrence was beginning to be well pleased with his venture and congratulated Althea and himself.

‘
You
’
re getting too excited,
’
she scolded him.
‘
Before long you
’
ll be tearing all round Italy buying and selling and you know what the consequences will be.
’

‘
Yes, we
’
ll make a fortune!
’
he said happily, then added more soberly,
‘
No, I promise you I won
’
t overdo it.
’

Several days later he suggested that they should visit the church of St. Michael in Anacapri.
‘
D
’
you know we
’
ve been here all this time and never yet visited that marvellous mosaic pavement they have there.
’

‘
Yes, it
’
s like living in London and never going to the Tower or St. Paul
’
s until you take your cousins there. We
’
ll go one day.
’

‘
Today? The shop is shut for siesta anyway.
’

‘Let’
s go tomorrow. I
’
ve something else I want to do this afternoon.
’

She heard him sigh and turned to smile at him.
‘
Oh, all right, if you really insist of going today.
’

The church was only a small one, but the floor was unique, for the mosaic represented an enormous picture of the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, the serpent, the apple-tree and all the appropriate symbols. To preserve this exciting work of art, visitors walked on a wooden platform raised a few inches above the floor level.

Intent on examining the intricate patterns below, she moved slowly along the boards.
‘
I wonder when it was made,
’
she murmured.