The Count's Prize. Christina Hollis

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СКАЧАТЬ of embarrassment, Josie ducked away from the window and scrabbled around to find her notebooks and camera. This was a working trip, with a lot to do and not much time in which to do it. She had to build her reputation as a serious academic. Gawping at Dario di Sirena wouldn’t help that at all! Packing her things into a messenger bag, she slung it over her shoulder and headed down to the castle’s entrance hall.

      Once out in the sunshine again with a map provided by the resident housekeeper, Josie was careful to turn her back on the lime avenue. She set off in an entirely different direction from Dario, in case he got the impression she was following him. Heading out to the far side of the estate, she passed through shady groves of ancient olive trees and fragrant citrus, soaking up the sun. She wanted to reach the point where the di Sirena estate’s grand gated drive met the twisting country road that idled past on its way to Florence.

      She had spotted two men working on a stone wall there. In her experience, boundary walls were magical things. All through history, people had haggled over them and changed them, climbed over them and dropped things in the process, or hidden special little items in between their stones or under their foundations. She set off towards the workmen in a hurry, but the intense heat soon sapped her energy. Strolling along was the only way to travel on a beautiful day like this. A skylark lifted off from right under her feet, while corn buntings and yellowhammers rattled away from every thicket she passed.

      She had drunk almost a whole bottle of water by the time she’d toiled all the way over to the workmen. One of them had already left in search of his dinner. The other was clearing up ready to disappear, too. Luckily he was a fund of stories, with a keen eye for what he called ‘little bits of something and nothing’. She was listening to him intently when she felt, rather than heard, a drumming sound reverberating through the parched grassland beneath her feet.

      It was Dario. Mounted on a magnificent bay horse, he was cantering towards where she stood.

      Josie planned to call out a casual, carefree hello, as though his appearance didn’t make her pulse immediately speed up. However, as she watched him ride towards her like a prince, come out of a storybook to claim her for his own, the words somehow caught in her throat and she was silent as he drew up in front of her.

      He grinned. ‘I’ve had friendlier greetings!’

      Josie swallowed and managed to force words out of her suddenly dry mouth. ‘Oh … I’m sorry, Dario. I was engrossed in what Signor Costa had to say, and you caught me by surprise.’

      ‘As I see. What’s keeping you so busy?’ Bringing his horse to a halt, he circled it around while sharing a few words with his estate worker.

      ‘You want to know about the history of this boundary wall?’ he asked Josie when he had finished his conversation.

      She nodded, but looking at Dario made it difficult to remember what she did want. He looked magnificent, mounted high above her, the reins of his horse in one hand while the other rested loosely on the muscular plane of his thigh.

      ‘Yes—can you help?’

      He laughed. ‘Not directly. I came over to see if you needed a translator.’

      Josie’s heart turned a somersault, but she managed to keep her voice under control.

      ‘Thank you, but I can manage,’ she replied confidently. Then, afraid of sounding rude, she added, ‘I find I can concentrate better without distractions. I … I mean on my own …’

      ‘That’s a shame. I was looking forward to watching you at work. It makes a refreshing change. People don’t normally come here to do anything constructive. It’s a place built for pleasure.’

      Josie stifled an involuntary moan. The chances of getting any work done with Count Dario around were minimal. She would be spending all her time trying not to look at the scenery—and she wasn’t thinking about the Tuscan hills.

      What’s the matter with me? She struggled with her conscience. It won in the end—but only just.

      ‘Th … thank you for the offer, Dario, but at the moment I’m just fact-finding for the course I’m designing. I’m sure you’d find it very boring.’

      He looked at her, his eyes amused, as though he could see straight through her flimsy defences.

      ‘OK, then. I need to check up on something on the other side of the village anyway, so I’ll leave you alone to get on with your work—for the moment, at least.’

      He backed his horse to leave. Josie couldn’t decide whether she was relieved to be left alone or sorry that he was going.

      ‘Since you’ve taken the trouble to come all this way to stay in my home, I’ll ask around to see if anyone else has some stories about the boundary wall. And come to me when you’re ready to see some more of the Castello Sirena’s secrets.’

      He sounded completely genuine, but the smile she gave him in return was apprehensive.

      ‘That would be great. Thanks.’

      Josie had never known herself to be so easily distracted before—ever.

      This sort of thing happens to other women, not to me! she thought. It made her feel weak, which in turn made her feel cross with herself and she scowled.

      ‘Are you sure you’re OK?’ Dario asked.

      ‘It’s the heat, that’s all,’ she told him abruptly. ‘Sun like this is so rare in England, I’m not used to it.’

      ‘Then take care of yourself.’ Suddenly his voice was unexpectedly firm. ‘Keep to the shade, and always wear a hat. When I see you again, I don’t want it to be as a sunstroke victim in the local casualty unit.’

      Raising one hand in a salute, he rode away. Josie found herself staring after him and had to apologise to Giacomo, the workman. She didn’t need a translation of the workman’s reply. His knowing chuckle was enough to give her a pretty good idea of what he was thinking. Blushing furiously, she made a point of turning back to her study of the ancient stones that were being used to repair the wall rather than watch Dario.

      Work first, play later, she repeated to herself—but for once her usual mantra didn’t seem quite so comforting.

      Dario couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but there was something about Dr Josie Street that unsettled him. He kept thinking about her pale face and tense movements on and off for the rest of the day. She was socially awkward and dressed to disappear into the background rather than make a fashion statement. All the same, he could see why his sister had taken to her—Josie had a charm all of her own. She was delightfully easy to tease, and her innocence was irresistible for someone whose social palate had felt somewhat jaded of late. She had been so animated in her conversation with Giacomo. Dario had seen her gestures from a hundred yards away and automatically assumed she needed a translator. It was only as he rode nearer he saw she was simply engrossed in her subject. He liked that. He hadn’t been nearly so keen on the way she seemed to lose all her self-confidence when she saw him.

      She went out of her way to communicate with Giacomo, but she could barely string two sentences together once I appeared, he thought.

      For a moment, Dario was reminded of Arietta. He had no idea why, because she had been the complete opposite of Josie—talkative with him, but almost silent in company. СКАЧАТЬ