The Warrior’s Princess. Barbara Erskine

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СКАЧАТЬ much he still loved you. Well, almost. And I thought … Well, he was up at Ty Bran, wasn’t he and after you rang to say you were on your way, I rang him.’ Steph heaved a great shrug. ‘I should have told you last night. It was sort of Kim’s idea too. She has so much room and we thought it would be fun, and Carmella said you had found love again –’

      ‘Carmella!’ Jess turned to face her angrily. ‘Who is this woman who seems to have such an influence over you? She doesn’t know anything about me! I don’t want Will here! I came here for some peace!’

      ‘I’m so sorry.’

      Jess exhaled hard through her teeth. ‘OK. I suppose it’s not the end of the world. But I am not back with him. I am not wanting to be back with him, and that must be made clear. By you, Steph! I don’t want to be put in the embarrassing position of him arriving and thinking I am going to fall at his feet. Or into his bed. Or have his bags delivered to my bedroom for God’s sake!’ She rammed her sunglasses back on. ‘I have come here to do some research. I shall be out most of the time.’

      ‘Sorry.’ Steph shook her head again. ‘So sorry.’ There was a moment’s silence. They had drifted to a standstill as they reached the piazza and around them people divided and passed them by on the busy pavement. They were surrounded by the smell of food from the restaurants all round them; the sound of water from the three great fountains filled the air.

      ‘When is he coming?’ Jess said, after a pause.

      ‘Today.’

      ‘Today?’

      Steph nodded. ‘Otherwise I could have rung him and told him not to come. He was very keen. He said you and he had had words and he was really sorry and he wanted to make up. Sorry.’

      ‘Stop saying sorry!’ Jess suddenly felt like crying. All the complications were coming back. Those wonderful moments of peace and happiness in her bedroom as she woke to a feeling of complete safety were gone. The wave of betrayal and devastation was swiftly replaced by anger. ‘As I said, I shan’t be there much.’

      ‘How are you going to do all this research, Jess?’ Steph said softly. ‘When you don’t speak Italian.’

      Jess glared at her. ‘I’ll find a way. There are lots of websites. Besides, I shan’t need Italian to walk around the ruins.’

      Will arrived at about six p.m. He dropped his bags on the floor of the hallway and greeted Kim and Steph with a kiss on the cheek. Then he turned to Jess. He smiled.

      ‘How are you?’ He sounded wary.

      ‘Better than last time we met. I’m sorry if I was rude.’

      ‘Why don’t you go into the salotto, you two.’ Kim, forewarned by Steph that Jess wasn’t quite as pleased by the arrival of the new guest as they had expected, ushered them into the large cool reception room off the entrance hall. ‘Clear the air, then come and have a drink. We’ll be in the kitchen.’

      Will closed the door behind them and stood, his back to it, looking at Jess. He waited unsmiling for her to speak first.

      ‘I’m sorry. I know I was awful to you.’ Jess shrugged. ‘I understand if you never want to speak to me again. Steph and Kim didn’t realise. There was a reason I behaved the way I did.’ She saw the sceptically raised eyebrow and plunged on. ‘Can I explain?’

      ‘I think you’d better.’ He still hadn’t smiled at her, she realised. He had made no move in her direction at all.

      ‘When you came to see me in Wales I thought you had –’ She floundered to a standstill.

      ‘When I came to Wales you said all sorts of crazy things to me, Jess; you treated me as though I was a serial killer!’ he filled in for her.

      Shaking her head sadly she hesitated before going on. ‘Almost. As you know, I thought,’ she paused again. ‘I thought you had done something. Broken into my flat.’ She struggled to meet his eye. ‘I know I was wrong. I want to apologise. I want to make it all right again.’

      ‘Just like that?’

      ‘Just like that.’ She bit her lip.

      ‘And did you find out who had broken into your flat?’ He held her gaze.

      She shook her head.

      ‘Did they take anything?’

      Only my self-respect. My peace of mind. Maybe a bit of my sanity. She didn’t say it.

      ‘Why did you think it was me?’

      ‘Because –’ She sighed. ‘Because someone told me it was you and like a fool I believed them.’

      ‘Dan?’

      She was startled. ‘How did you know that?’

      ‘He’s been saying some odd things lately. Tell me, if he thought I had broken into your flat, why did he suggest I come and see you in Wales?’

      Jess shrugged miserably. ‘He was setting you up. He knew you hadn’t done it.’

      His eyes narrowed angrily. ‘He must have known you would throw me out.’

      Dear God! She couldn’t tell him the truth. If she did he would probably kill Dan. Everyone would find out what had happened. She would never be free of the horror and the scandal. ‘He was protecting someone else. Look, Will, it doesn’t matter why –’

      ‘It most certainly does!’ He strode away from the door towards the large circular table that stood in the middle of the floor. He ran a finger across the intricate marquetry. The room was dim, lit by the faint lines of sunlight which strayed in around the closed shutters. It smelled of beeswax polish and dust. ‘Who was he protecting?’

      She could feel the anger coming off him and it scared her. ‘It was Ash,’ she said hurriedly. ‘He thought Ash had done it. He didn’t,’ she added quickly as Will’s lips tightened. ‘It was all a silly misunderstanding. That’s why I wanted to explain to you why I had been so horrid.’ She floundered to a halt miserably.

      ‘A misunderstanding! And why did he think it was Ash who had done it? Because the boy’s black, so he must be a thief?’ Will’s anger seemed to condense in the air around them.

      ‘No! No, of course not. Dan saw Ash walking home with me after the school disco and assumed –’ She faltered. ‘Look, it wasn’t Ash. And it wasn’t you. And I’m so, so sorry for thinking that it was!’

      ‘And you arranged to have me come all this way so you could apologise to me? May I ask why you didn’t just telephone?’ he asked acidly.

      ‘I didn’t know Kim and Steph had asked you. I didn’t know you were coming till this afternoon.’ She walked over and stood beside him. ‘But I’m glad you have. It’s given me the chance to explain. To apologise.’

      ‘Well, I suppose I should be relieved all that venom wasn’t for me after all,’ he said with a sigh. There was a pause. ‘What the hell are you doing in Rome anyway? I thought you were going to spend the summer painting in Wales.’

      She СКАЧАТЬ