Every year for as long as Rebecca could remember, it had been the same—midnight mass on Christmas Eve, matins on Christmas morning, thank-you letters to be written while Winifred cooked lunch, and the afternoon spent receiving the first of the endless round of annual visitors. &...
The sun might be dropping now, a ball of fire, into the sea, but the residue remained, radiating in waves from the white stone pathway and imprisoning the perfume of the bougainvillaea and frangipani that lined it on either side. Lilli felt it burning through the soles of ...
The one problem which had nagged away at the back of her mind during the break was the need to find a driver to replace Ollie Griffin, but when she met Herbie at the yard to discuss plans he had a suggestion to make. ‘There’s always my brother Cliff,’ he said. ‘Since the s...
In her hand she carried a paper bag filled with sugar lumps. Sweet Lass, the mare Gilbert had bought for her when she had learned to ride, was in foal and her time was near. Sarah visited her whenever she could, bringing her little treats such as the sugar lumps which she bought from the village ...
Then he turned to Tara who was sitting beside him, sliding his arm along the back of the seat and around her shoulders. ‘Would you like to walk for a bit – or just sit?’ ‘Oh …’ she hesitated, tossing it around in her mind. ‘I’m bone lazy, really. For choice I’d sit and sit...
He fixed himself a meal by reheating some bolognese sauce from the freezer and cooking a pan of fresh pasta, and carried it into the living room, switching on the television and positioning his chair so that he could watch while he ate. The national news came on at six thi...
There was really nothing I could do at the moment. At some point I would go down to Dorset and speak to Dawn’s parents, but that was going to be horribly difficult, and I didn’t feel I was quite ready yet to face them, or the long drive. Always provided Dad was agreeable to me taking his car so f...
Two weeks after James was buried Barbara began to suspect that she might be pregnant and by the beginning of December she was almost certain. The thought of it set her mind in a turmoil and she did not know whether to be glad or sorry. To all practical intents and purposes...
His first visit to Maria Vincenti had been an almost total waste of time, for she had refused point blank to answer any of his questions, taking refuge in a pretence of not understanding. It was a stupid ploy, since it would have been obvious to anyone but an imbecile that no-one could live in an...
It was almost a month now since Dunkirk and she had heard nothing from Nicky. Surely if something terrible had happened to him she would have heard? So why didn’t he write? Was he still in France, his whereabouts kept secret for reasons of security, or was he amongst the ‘missing’? Viv thought sh...
Within the pale stone walls the public rooms reflected calm and gracious living, from the celebrated Golden Corridor with its decorative arches to the deep blue velvet and gold inlaid decor of the cocktail lounge; while outside on the manicured lawns, where palm trees swayed beneath a blue sky, g...