Her sigh of relief was audible as she turned up the long drive approaching the gracefully Moorish outlines of a large and dazzlingly white house. She had been mentally prepared for something a lot smaller, she realised with a wry smile of affection; Lexy Raphael's description of the place had been characteristically vague but, she supposed, by the standards of the fabled wealth of the Raphael family, this palace looming up ahead of her was probably something they would regard as cramped. Penny winced as the car hit a sleeping policeman, Lexy's voice echoing in her ears as she hurriedly changed gear. 'Penelope Elliot, you're twenty-three years old, a knockout to look at and, despite this temporary setback, the world will return to being your oyster in a few weeks—just you wait and see!' 'I suppose "temporary set-back" is one way of putting it.' Penny's own jaundiced reply returned to her. 'Having been made redundant on Monday and today losing the roof from over my head with the discovery that the man who claims to want to marry me is having an affair with my flatmate… More of a minor hiccup really.' 'Penny, what you need is a holiday.
