Page 101 of The Secrets of Ashmore Castle

Lucia reached over and slapped his hand. ‘Cattivo! We can never be sick of you. We want you come to Capri with us, of course. The villa is big enough for us all.’

Giulia said, ‘Oh, do come, Giles! It is so beautiful there.’

‘And there are ruins,’ Lucia said wickedly, ‘if you cannot bear too much pleasure. Lots of them. Tiberius built twelve villas there, remember.’

Giles turned to Kitty, who was pushing food about on her plate. ‘What do you think, Kitty? Would you like to go to Capri?’

‘I don’t know what it is,’ she said dully.

‘It is an island,’ Lucia said. ‘In the Bay of Naples. Rugged cliffs, beautiful scenery, fresh air, shady trees, and the most beautiful, beautiful sea to bathe in.’

Kitty raised her head. ‘I’ve never bathed in the sea.’

‘Oh, then you must come! It is the best thing in the world. Tell her, Giles.’

‘It is very nice,’ he said. ‘Would you like to go?’

He spoke so kindly, she looked up at him in hope. ‘Would you like to go?’

‘I believe all the ruins have been excavated to the limit,’ he said, ‘but I’d still like to see them. I never did get there before. And you can sit in a cool garden, go for boat rides, and swim in the sea. What do you think?’

‘I would like that,’ Kitty said. She would rather have gone somewhere with him alone, somewhere that Giulia wouldn’t be, but if the choices were staying here or going to the seaside, she chose the seaside.

When Giles’s cable arrived, Lady Stainton said, ‘Then we don’t need to be here, if he’s not coming back.’

‘Good,’ said Sebastian, looking up from the paper. ‘We can be in Scotland for the twelfth.’

Rachel and Alice exchanged a glance. ‘Oh, Mama, we don’t have to go, do we?’

She raised an eyebrow. ‘You most certainly do. We will all go to Kincraig. What are you thinking?’

‘But there’s nothing to do there,’ Rachel cried. ‘We don’t like shooting or fishing and there’s no riding and the midges are awful.’

‘Couldn’t Rachel and I stay here?’ Alice asked hopefully.

‘Of course not,’ said Lady Stainton. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at Rachel. ‘Stay here on your own? Nonsense!’

‘I don’t see why we couldn’t stay,’ Rachel grumbled, as the girls went upstairs after breakfast. ‘Nobody wants us there. Mama never wants us around her anyway. And Mrs Webster could look after us.’

‘I think she was suspicious,’ Alice said. ‘Did you see the way she looked at you? I think she knows why you want to stay.’

‘Oh, well, she’ll never agree, now she’s said no,’ said Rachel, gloomily. ‘It’s horrible Kincraig for us.’

‘Your old Victor won’t miss you for a few weeks.’

‘That’s what I’m afraid of,’ said Rachel.

Richard decided not to go to Kincraig. ‘I can’t hold a gun with one arm, or make a cast,’ he said. ‘And I can hardly tramp over the heather like this. I suppose I’ll just have to stay here.’

‘Would you like to come with Grandmère and me to Biarritz?’ Caroline asked kindly.

‘Promenading up and down so that everyone can admire my clothes would be exciting,’ he admitted, ‘but I’m afraid I’d slow you down.’

‘Don’t be satirical. You know there’s more to it than that.’

‘Not a great deal more, surely.’

‘There are the gardens, the galleries, the plage.’