Page 25 of Mrs. Endicott's Splendid Adventure

Mrs Adams had been lurking just out of sight, eavesdropping. As soon as Monsieur Danton had gone and the women were sharing their excitement, she came back in.

“What’s this about renting a house, then? Where is this house? I didn’t know there was a house to rent in Saint-Benet.”

“It’s the villa, Mrs Adams,” Ellie said. “The Villa Gloriosa.”

The woman’s mouth dropped open. “But that place is a ruin. Nobody’s lived in it for donkey’s years. They even say it’s haunted.”

“It will be a challenge, Mrs Adams. I need a project, and this is a good one. Besides, it doesn’t look nearly as bad as you think. I don’t suppose you ever met the opera singer, did you?”

Mrs Adams shook her head. “By the time we arrived, after the war, she hadn’t been here for years.

She might already have died, and if she was still alive, I don’t think she was famous and in demand any more.

Probably too old to attract the men. Her heyday was the belle époque, you know.

That was the time when rich noblemen set up their mistresses in flats in Paris and all that kind of immoral carrying-on.

The things I’ve heard about what went on at that time .

.. enough to make your hair curl. I said to Mr Adams once I’m glad we’re respectable people.

So when would you plan to move into that place? ”

“Obviously not for a while. If you don’t mind, we’ll stay on here until we’ve made some of the rooms at the villa liveable. I can’t tell how long that will take.”

She could see Mrs Adams totting up the money.

“Well, of course you’re lucky about the time of year. We don’t have the real influx of visitors until after Christmas. So I should be able to keep the rooms for you.”

“That’s good of you,” Ellie said, half meaning to be sarcastic, but the woman nodded. “I’m happy to help out a former Englishwoman in distress,” she said. “Have you recently lost your husband, then?”

“Very recently,” Ellie said and did not expand on this. “That’s why I have to be busy and start a new life.”

“Well, good for you, that’s what I say. Some women would stay home and shut themselves away, wrapped in their misery. But not you.”

By the time they went out for their walk, it seemed that half the village knew their plans. They decided to pay a call on Louis to see if the Bentley might be ready and to ask him for his help with the villa. They had only gone halfway down the street when they heard a loud “Yoo-hoo?”

Mr Tommy was running after them. “I’ve just heard the news,” he said. “I can’t believe it. Are you really going to rent the haunted villa? Clive only said it as a joke, you know. We weren’t serious. It’s supposed to be an awful ruin.”

“We are serious,” Ellie said. “We’ve seen it, and we love it, and we’re going to bring it back to life.”

“I’ve never seen it properly myself,” Tommy said. “Only once, when Clive and I were first here, we went up the drive and climbed a tree to see over the wall. But there were so many trees in our way that all we saw was glimpses of a pink house, completely taken over by a wisteria vine.”

“Yes, that’s right,” Ellie said. “Of course at this time of year the leaves have fallen, so we could see the structure of the veranda beyond. But we’ve been inside the house, and it really just looks as if it’s been asleep for a long time.”

“Like Sleeping Beauty?” he asked. “A magic enchantment?”

“That was exactly what I felt. I somehow knew I was supposed to wake it up again. I’m sure that sounds silly and sentimental.”

“Not at all,” he said. “I’m a great believer in intuition.

Maybe you were destined to come to this place—your car breaking down at the right moment, and then the villa.

” He clapped his hands with joy, like a small child.

“How utterly exciting. You must let us help you. You couldn’t find anyone who knows more about painting than Clive.

He can help you choose colours. Shall you be getting new furniture? Is the villa empty?”

“No. That’s the strange thing. All the furniture is in place. Under dustsheets. Some of it has damage from mice or moths or something, and of course we didn’t look at it all, but I think most of it can be resurrected.”

“Then I’m your man for that,” he said. “I’ve upholstered many a chair in my life. And made cushions. We have a sewing machine you’re welcome to use.”

“How splendid,” Dora said, joining in the conversation. “I’m no good at sewing myself, except for mending things, but I expect that Mrs Endicott is.”

“And me,” Mavis said. “I’ve done a good bit of sewing in my life, ain’t I, Mrs E.?”

“You have, Mavis. You made my last lot of curtains.”

“Then we’ll go on a lovely shopping spree into Marseille or Toulon and buy lots of delicious fabrics,” Mr Tommy said. “I can hardly wait.”

“First I’m afraid it’s a lot of hard work cleaning and stripping old wallpaper and patching leaks,” Ellie said. “We’re on our way to see Louis to find out what he could help us with and who else might be useful. I was told there is a so-called simple boy whom we could employ.”

“Bruno? Oh, he’d love to help you. Not exactly a boy any more. Maybe late twenties, but still with a child’s mind and a sweet nature, too. And strong. Perfect for you.”

He insisted on accompanying them to Louis’s workshop. The man looked up as they came in.

“Ah, the ladies, ever impatient for their motor car. It will be ready any moment, madame, I promise you.”

“We came about something different,” Ellie said. “We have decided to rent the Villa Gloriosa.”

Louis frowned. “The old villa? The ruin?”

Ellie nodded. “It’s not a ruin. It just needs fixing up.

We wondered if you might be the man to help us.

The roof needs repairing. The windows need resealing.

Lots of repainting to be done, and goodness knows whether the stove and the water heating still work.

Would you have time to do any of those?”

Louis was staring at her as if he was summing her up. “You are sure about this? It is not a foolish dream that can never be accomplished? You will perhaps walk away when you find it is too much?”

“I don’t think so,” Ellie said. “If we found that the roof was about to collapse or that there were termites in all the wood, then perhaps we would have to agree that it was too much for us. But at first glance it seems sound enough, only in need of care.”

He was nodding as she spoke. “I could take a look, I suppose,” he said. “See what parts of it I could help with. But you’d have to understand if there is an emergency in the village, if a tractor suddenly breaks down or a water pipe bursts, then I would have to attend to that.”

“I quite understand.” Ellie also nodded now. “But you’ll come and take a look?”

“When would this be?”

“We have the keys. I thought we’d go up there tomorrow morning.”

“Then I’ll have time to finish this radiator first,” Louis said. “Although now it is not so urgent, since you will not be going away.”

The next morning Louis, Mr Tommy and Clive accompanied them up to the villa.

“I don’t see myself going up and down these steps every day,” Louis said. “I’m not as young as I used to be. And I certainly weigh a lot more. But since my house is just outside the village, I can come up the driveway on my motorbike and that way bring my tools with me.”

Ellie stood outside the tall metal gate and put the key in the lock. It turned. The gate swung open, and she gave a little gasp as she stepped inside. My new home. The words rang in her head.

“Oh my,” Tommy said again. “Look at that, Clive. You should paint it now before anything is done to it.”

Clive smiled. “It is charming. I had no idea. Quite charming. I’ll bring my paints up tomorrow.”

“I hope you’re going to have time to help with the sort of painting we need,” Dora said. “Walls and furniture.”

“I don’t actually see myself as a labourer,” Clive said, “but I will advise you on colours.”

“Those shutters will need replacing for a start,” Louis said, having managed to understand some of the English. “I think I’ve got some shutters somewhere in my workshop. I will search them out for you.”

Ellie opened the front door, and they followed her inside, looking around the marble foyer with interest.

“Lovely. Quite lovely,” Clive said. “Whoever designed this had great taste. Look at the sweep of that staircase. You could come gliding down that in a ballgown.”

Ellie laughed. “I don’t see that happening. I doubt there are too many balls in Saint-Benet.”

“You’ll need to see about reconnecting the electricity for a start,” Tommy said.

“And the water. I wonder if you’re on a well up here or if it comes up from the village?

And how is the place heated?” Ellie showed him the porcelain stoves.

“They will need a good deal of wood in the winter. Where is the boiler? Are there no radiators? Maybe we can arrange to put a couple in for you.”

As he spoke Ellie was having second thoughts. She had been so caught up with the romanticism that she hadn’t considered the realities. Nothing worked. Everything was old beyond belief. How would they find wood and a well, light stoves? She stopped as she heard Mavis’s voice.

“Yeah, I’ve used one like this,” she said. “It looks sound enough.” And Ellie found her standing with Louis as they examined the kitchen stove.

Louis seemed to have understood her because he nodded. “It needs cleaning out,” he said. “This lady will do a good job.”

“He says you’ll do a good job, Mavis,” Dora said. “I think he’s got eyes on you.”

“Don’t be silly,” Mavis laughed and blushed.

By the end of the morning Louis had checked out the boiler, the bathroom geyser and the roof.

He told them he could get everything back in working order and even put in a radiator based on the present boiler, but he wasn’t going to tackle the roof.

He had a fear of heights, he said. They’d have to call in someone else for that. But he thought he knew someone ...