Page 50 of The Fortunes of Ashmore Castle

The house was as rented houses are, the deficiencies covered by ranks and banks of fresh flowers – fortunately, June provided them in masses.

The ballroom had evidently been added at a later date because there was a separate grand staircase up which to process, and a wide landing at the top for the receiving line – in this case, just Lord and Lady Leake.

Marriage had changed Uncle Fergus, Giles thought.

He looked leaner in the face, tauter in the figure; his evening clothes were cut slightly more youthfully; like Sebastian he sported a new haircut.

He held himself more alertly: gone was the slothful, indolent, soft-bodied Stuffy of old.

Giles was put in mind of a gun dog quivering with contained excitement as it waited for the shot to be fired.

But if there was less of Fergus, there was more of Giulia.

Her figure had filled out, the planes of her face were softened.

Her gown of peacock blue silk had an overdress of chiffon encrusted with silver lace; she wore a heavy-looking sapphire and diamond necklace with matching earrings, and a diamond tiara sparkled in her high-piled hair.

She looked – it came to him with a slight shock – matronly.

The passionate, unconventional girl who had sat under a desert moon with him and talked of Plotinus and Philo, Akhenaten and Hatshepsut, had been subsumed into a married woman.

She looked exactly as someone called Lady Leake ought to look.

The smile she gave him and Kitty was a conventional, social smile, and she murmured, ‘So good of you to come,’ as she had to everyone, her eyes already sliding on to the next person in line. He felt oddly disconcerted, as though he had gone up a step that wasn’t there.

Uncle Fergus gripped his hand in a firm shake, and said, ‘Giles, my dear boy! Haven’t seen you for ages. Hope everything’s all right?’

‘Yes, thank you,’ Giles said. He felt the same sense of unreality about the contact as his hand was given back to him without ceremony.

The invisible pressure moved him and Kitty along and they passed into the anteroom.

In the ballroom beyond, the orchestra was playing quietly, waiting for the company to come through.

Kitty said, ‘She’s changed.’

‘He has, too,’ Giles said. He was trying to analyse it.

It came to him that his uncle was a very rich man, and an earl, but had never really acted the part before.

Now he was like Giles’s father, a public figure, playing the part that was expected of him.

And Giulia had caught the trick from him.

She was officially, remotely, publicly charming.

The passionate girl was gone. He felt a sadness at her passing.

‘But they look happy,’ he said tentatively, in valediction.

‘Yes,’ Kitty said. ‘They seem like a married couple. I never thought they would – it was such an odd match – but now they seem to fit together.’ Giles grunted assent, and she looked up at him with suppressed amusement. ‘Will you really call her Aunt Giulia?’

‘If the occasion calls for it,’ he said.

They moved forward, impelled by the newcomers entering behind.

Against the magpie black and white of the gentlemen, the ladies glittered with jewels and sequins and spars.

Quick gestures and turning heads as they chattered made a constant sparkle, like the sun glinting on a gently moving sea.

It was, he thought, what might truly be called ‘a glittering occasion’.

‘What a pity my mother and Linda couldn’t be here,’ he said. ‘They would love all this.’

Rachel and Alice stood out of the way against the anteroom wall, getting their bearings.

‘There are a lot of old people,’ Rachel observed.

‘I hope there’ll be enough young men to dance with.

Oh, I think your flower’s come loose,’ she noticed.

‘Let me fix it for you.’ She attended to the artificial rose in Alice’s hair.

‘You’re awfully quiet. Are you all right? ’

‘Of course I am,’ Alice said.

‘You’ve been brooding. Is it the art school? Have you realised you don’t like it after all? You could give it up. I don’t think anyone would mind – they all think it’s mad anyway.’

‘It isn’t mad. I love it there. I don’t want to give it up.’

‘Well, what is it, then?’ Enlightenment flashed over her face. ‘Don’t tell me!’ she breathed. ‘You’ve fallen in love!’

‘Don’t be silly,’ Alice said, trying not to show she was put out. She had been thinking about Axe, and wondering what he would look like in evening dress.

‘I’m right, aren’t I? You’re always looking as if you’re miles away.Who is it? You never go anywhere, so it must be someone at the school.’

‘I’m just wishing I was back at the Castle instead of here. I’d sooner be riding than dancing. Oh, look!’ she said quickly, glad of the distraction. ‘Isn’t that David Latham? Wasn’t he one of your beaux last year? He’s quite handsome, isn’t he?’

Rachel was distracted. ‘He’s very handsome! But he’s a terrible rattle. I might dance with him, though, if he asks me – he’s amusing. And there’s Adam Massingberd.’

‘I can see quite a few young men. You needn’t have worried.’

Fergus came up beside Giles. ‘I think we should begin,’ he said. ‘I’d like to lead off with Kitty. And, Giles, as head of your family, will you take Giulia?’

The crowds parted before them as they walked into the ballroom, then fell in behind, with a scramble for partners.

Giulia’s hand rested on Giles’s arm. He could smell her perfume – that at least had not changed: a chypre mixture of the light, the floral and the earthy.

The three conditions of a woman, he had once said to her when it came up in conversation.

He wasn’t sure he would dare say anything like that to the new Giulia.

They reached the centre of the floor and turned to face each other.

She put her gloved hand into his, he placed his other hand behind her shoulder, feeling the harsh silver lace even through his glove, and a rigidness of corset beneath that. Once, she had been as supple as nature.

The music struck up, and they moved. Her head was slightly tilted, she seemed to observe the company as though conscious that everyone was watching her.

One circuit, and then the other couples flooded onto the floor. He found that she was looking up at him, with her social smile.

‘How nice to see so many people here,’ she said. ‘It is gratifying that all our invitations were accepted.’

‘It must be,’ he said blankly.

‘The band is very good, don’t you think?’

‘Very good.’

‘It was recommended by Lady Vane. She is a charming woman.’

‘I don’t really know her,’ Giles said. It came to him uncomfortably that this really was like dancing with an aunt. If inane conversation was the order of the day, he had to contribute. ‘The flower arrangements are very nice. Did you use Atkins?’

‘No, Williams.’ Suddenly her smile disappeared, and disconcertingly it was Giulia who was looking at him, not Lady Leake. ‘Giles,’ she said, ‘I am glad of this dance. I wish to talk to you seriously.’

‘Giulia, I—’

‘No, let me speak. It may be the last chance I have. I behaved very badly. I made a craziness, and I am sorry for it. You must forgive.’

‘I think it is I who need forgiveness,’ he said awkwardly. ‘I never meant to—’

‘I know you did not,’ she said, and there was an infinity of sadness in her dark eyes. ‘When I was a child you were my big brother. You were tall and kind and listened to me. Then in the Valley of the Kings, suddenly it was different.’

‘Please don’t,’ he begged. He was afraid she would say it all again, perhaps in Italian, and in her own language her voice was like liquid honey.

‘It was wrong of me,’ she said gravely. ‘I knew you were married. No, non dire niente! Lasciami finire . I made a craziness. And afterwards I blamed you for it. I wanted to punish you. It was very wrong of me. But now the craziness is all gone away. All is well. So I apologise.’

He didn’t know what to say. ‘Are you happy?’ he asked at last.

‘Of course,’ she said. ‘I have everything that I want. To travel! To learn! To be comfortable. Never to be afraid for money. To take care of my mama and papa when they are old.’

‘But are you happy ?’

‘He loves me and takes care of me. What more could I want? And I make him happy too, so it is fair.’

He didn’t know what to say. They danced in silence until the music ended. He released her and bowed.

‘We may never dance together again,’ she said. Then, just as suddenly, Lady Leake was back. Her eyes were as impenetrable to him as the glass eyes of a stuffed animal. ‘We will live mostly in Italy, I think,’ she observed unemotionally, ‘so I shall not often meet you.’

He led her towards where he could see Fergus waiting for her. ‘Thank you,’ she said formally. ‘It was pleasant.’

‘Thank you for the dance, Lady Leake,’ he said, in like manner.

‘But you may call me Zia Giulia,’ she said graciously.

He had no idea whether she meant it as a joke or not. There was nothing in her face to suggest it. He could only bow again and hand her back, and was quite glad to do it.

Her latest partner led Rachel off the floor, and Angus was there to catch her. ‘This is my dance,’ he said firmly. ‘I’ve hardly seen you all evening.’

She fanned herself vigorously. ‘I didn’t realise so many people would want to dance with me,’ she said modestly.

He took the fan from her and plied it, and as the music started again he said, ‘Would you like to walk outside instead of dancing? I want to talk to you.’ She seemed to hesitate and he said impatiently, ‘It’s quite proper – we are engaged.’

‘Mama never let us go outside at a ball. She said we’d catch a chill.’

Angus took her hand and pulled it under his arm. ‘If you feel chilly I’ll put my jacket round you.’

She glanced at him as they slipped out through the French windows onto the terrace. ‘You look awfully grim. Has something happened?’’