Page 36 of Mrs. Endicott's Splendid Adventure

Colin did not stay long, turned down the offer of a glass of wine and went to depart in the little red sports car. Ellie walked him down the avenue of palm trees to where he had parked.

“This is quite lovely,” he said. “I can see why you want to stay, but I do think you should listen to Dad and plan to come home soon.”

“I don’t have a home any more, remember?

” she said, making him stare at her. He was clearly surprised at the anger in her speech.

“My home was taken from me. Everything I had worked for—my furniture, my garden, my lifestyle—all taken from me. Why on earth should I come back when people like me here, and I feel as if I belong?”

He nodded, not quite sure what to say next. He cleared his throat, something his father did when nervous. “Well, I wish you luck then, Mum. Let’s hope there is no war and you continue to have a good life here.” He gave her an awkward hug.

“You are welcome to come and visit any time,” she said. “We eat very well—which reminds me, I’ve a fish to prepare for tonight. I expect Nico will be quite critical.”

“He’s another one who fancies you,” Colin said.

“Nico, I suspect, is a flirt, and a little bit dangerous,” Ellie said, although she felt her cheeks turning pink.

“Which makes a change from Dad.” Colin grinned. “I’ll make sure I tell him about your retinue of men.”

“Oh, don’t be silly.” She gave him a playful slap.

She waved as he drove away, then stood there, thinking.

She had to admit she did find it flattering that men showed interest in her.

At home she had felt like part of the furniture, a nebulous object in the background who put food on the table and laughed dutifully at her husband’s jokes.

How long since she had felt desirable? There had been a man at the golf club once with whom there had been a spark, but he had gone off to fight during the Great War and not returned.

Since then she had been boring housewife Mrs Endicott, pillar of the community, launderer of altar cloths.

And now ... “Heavens,” she said, stirring from her thoughts, “I’ve a fish to put in the oven. ”

She hurried back to the kitchen. “Mavis, help,” she said. “The fisherman Nico is coming to dinner. He’s given us a large sea bream, and it has to be cooked perfectly.”

“Nico? The bad-tempered one? What’s he coming for?”

“I expect he’s curious about what we’ve done with the place,” she said. “I could hardly say no if he gave us the fish and wouldn’t let me pay for it.”

“Well, you better show me what we have to do,” Mavis said. “I don’t know nothing about garlic and that sort of thing.”

As Mavis prepared the fish in a big poaching dish and Ellie cut up the herbs with which to stuff it, Mavis said, “Well, that was nice to see your son, wasn’t it?”

“However briefly,” Ellie replied. “It feels rather like having a conversation with a stranger. They were such lovely little boys, weren’t they? So full of fun. And now two men I really don’t know.”

Mavis nodded. “They take after that husband of yours.”

“Oh.” Ellie paused. “Speaking of husbands, Colin had a piece of news for us.”

“Good or bad?”

“I’m not sure which. I didn’t want to tell you while Colin was here. Perhaps you’d better sit down. It’s your husband, Reg.”

“He’s found himself another woman?”

“No, Mavis. I’m afraid he’s dead.”

“Dead?” Mavis froze, the spatula still in her hand. “My Reg? He’s dead? Are you sure?”

“Colin heard it at the pub,” Ellie said. “It seems he was run over by a car. He was very drunk, apparently, and stepped out in front of it.”

“Blimey,” Mavis said. She sank on to the kitchen chair. “I don’t know what to say. I suppose I’m relieved, but now I’m going to worry that he drank so much because I’d left him.”

“He drank so much before,” Ellie said. “And he came home and he hit you and pushed you around, Mavis. You’re free of him. You don’t have to worry any more.”

“You’re right,” she said, pondering this, frowning. “I am free, aren’t I?” And she turned bright red. “Well, that changes things, doesn’t it? It would mean that ...” She broke off and wouldn’t say any more. Ellie did not press her.

“I’ll get you a glass of brandy,” Ellie said. “You’ve had a big shock.”

Mavis was staring in front of her. Ellie took down the brandy bottle and poured a little into a glass. “Get that down you.”

“I don’t normally drink, as you very well know,” she said.

“But on this occasion ... well, blow me down. That’s the last piece of news I expected.

Reg dead? I’m a widow.” She took a big swig of brandy, coughed, then finished the glass.

Of course it would take Mavis time to process such a life-changing event, but Ellie was glad for her.

She was now able to make a new life for herself and would not have to worry if they went back to England.

Went back to England ... Ellie toyed with this.

If there was a war, would they be stupid and reckless to stay here?

But then she pictured England. Dora could go back to her cottage, but she and Mavis, where would they go?

What would they do? She imagined grey, rainy days, plodding to the local shop, nodding politely at people she knew.

Yes, the weather has been frightful, hasn’t it?

But yes, it is good for the runner beans.

She shook her head. No. That was not what she wanted. She was not going back.

Nico came about seven thirty, almost unrecognizable in a dark suit and striped tie, his unruly dark curls smoothed into place. Ellie had a desire to laugh but was actually charmed. She just nodded instead.

“You got dressed up for the occasion, I see,” she said.

“How often do I have a chance to wear a suit?” he said. “Only for funerals, and nobody dies here. Luckily the moths have not found it yet.”

They sat in the drawing room drinking Campari and eating cheese straws.

“I’ve always loved this view from your terrace,” Nico said. “The best thing about this place, in my opinion.”

She was about to ask how he knew about the view, but then she remembered that he crossed this terrace at night when he came up from his boat.

“Yes. It still takes my breath away,” Ellie replied. “It was when I saw the view that I knew I had to live here.”

“You had a nice house in England? A castle?”

Ellie laughed. “Nothing like a castle. But a nice house. Big garden. Five bedrooms. The sort of house a prosperous banker owns, close enough to London to take the train up every day.”

“And your husband still lives there?”

“He does. With his new wife.”

Nico made a small snort of derision. “I am sorry,” he said.

“Oh, don’t be. This is the best thing that ever happened to me,” she said. “I find myself truly happy.”

“You do not miss a man in your life?”

“No. I am content. I do not have to wait on anyone.” She paused, looking at him. “And you. You do not have a wife?”

“Not any more,” he said. “I married as a young man. She was beautiful. Perfect in every way.” He paused. “And then she died in the Spanish flu epidemic in 1920. And then my father died and my mother needed me, so I came home. And since then ... well, there was nobody to compare to Claudine.”

“Dinner’s ready.” Mavis appeared in the doorway.

“Shall we go through?” Ellie led him to the dining room, glad that the conversation had been interrupted.

It had been a little too intimate. The long table had been covered in a white cloth, and they had managed to salvage enough chairs for the five of them to sit at one end.

Yvette had declined to join them. “I don’t feel too well,” she said. “And I do not like fish.”

The fish was produced on its long platter, crisp on the outside but stuffed with herbed butter and plenty of garlic. Nico nodded at his first bite, impressed. “Ah, I see you have learned to prepare the fish à la provencale. I congratulate you. You are Cordon Bleu. Perfect.”

The fish was accompanied with scalloped potatoes and spinach and followed by chocolate mousse and cream.

“I must come and eat here more often,” he said.

“Stop for a snack on your way to the shed,” Ellie said before she had time to consider if this was wise.

“Ah yes. The shed.” He gave a little grin. “I hope you don’t mind that I use it.”

“If the owner has given you permission, I can’t really object, can I?” Ellie said.

“True.” He nodded but didn’t elaborate. “I find it convenient to keep my things there, especially if I dock my boat at the little harbour below the villa. That way, I don’t need to go all the way into the harbour.”

Of course, Ellie thought. He could bring smuggled goods in and out without anyone seeing. So that was why he wanted to make sure he stayed in her good books. She had almost forgotten that she suspected him. Tread carefully here, a voice whispered.

“Oh, by the way,” he said as they finished the meal with coffee. “I have bought a new motorboat. It’s lovely. Sleek. Made of polished teakwood. And fast. A proper speedboat.”

“Goodness,” Ellie said. “You can hardly go fishing in that.”

He laughed. “Not for fishing. For the tourists. Probably not the English. They are too timid and proper. When the French come in the summer, I will take them out for rides, or they can pay to rent it by the hour. A good investment, I think.”

“Oh, definitely.” Ellie was thinking that a speedboat could outrun any coast guard if necessary.

“So would you like to come out for a trial run?” he asked. He looked around the table. “All of you ladies?” he added politely.

“Oh, not me,” Mavis said. “I get seasick.”

“And I am too old to be bumped around on a speedboat,” Dora added.

Nico looked at Ellie. “How about you? Are you ready for an adventure?”

“Absolutely,” Ellie said.

They went out in the boat the next day. It was as attractive as Nico had described it, and a crowd had gathered at the harbour to watch them.

“Where did you get the money for that, Nico?” one of the men shouted. “Did you rob a bank?”

Nico looked up, laughing. “It was a steal,” he said. “Jewish banker from Germany fleeing to South America before Hitler confiscates his property. Couldn’t wait to hand me the key.”

Ellie tried not to glance at him as they eased out of the dock.

Just how did a fisherman from tiny Saint-Benet meet a Jewish banker from Germany?

As they left the harbour walls, Nico gunned the motor and the boat took off with a roar of power, flinging her back in her seat and leaving a white trail.

Ellie felt pure exhilaration. She glanced at Nico and saw that he, too, was half excited, half scared, but the warning voice in her head told her not to get too friendly.

She had taken in Yvette, and now it transpired that Yvette’s lover was a robber and in prison.

Did she want to find herself accused of accepting and storing Nico’s ill-gotten goods?

When they were out to sea, Nico slowed to a crawl and turned to her. “Your turn,” he said. “Do you want to know how to drive it?”

“Oh, I don’t think—” she began, but he cut her off.

“Be brave. Try. You may not get this chance again.”

“All right,” she said. He stood up, and she slid into the driver’s seat.

He explained patiently the throttle, the steering.

“It’s so easy a child could do it,” he said.

“But one thing. If we ever encounter a big wave, you make sure you face it head on. If we are sideways, it can flip the boat, and that would be most unpleasant.”

Ellie nodded, her heart now beating fast. She pulled back on the throttle, and the boat picked up speed.

“Faster,” Nico shouted. She obeyed. White spray flew around them.

She felt her heart pounding. Nico watched her, her mouth and eyes wide open, a silent laugh coming from her.

Then she slowed it again. “We’re getting close to the islands,” she said. “I’d better hand it back to you.”

“Not at all,” he said. “Let’s see you take it back into port. If you can do that without a mishap, then you can take out the boat whenever you want.”

“Really? Oh, I don’t think I dare.”

“Dare,” he said.

She brought the boat back towards the harbour, conscious of the stone walls and narrow entrance, but she slowed to a crawl and managed to reverse the throttle, cut the motor and drift into the docking space without a scratch.

“See, I knew you could.” He gave her shoulder a friendly shake. It was the first time he had touched her, and it felt as if a new level of intimacy had been reached. Watch out, a voice whispered again.