Love comes to the Castle Read online

  Now she understood why, if she spoke to her father about it, he always seemed to have a very little to say.

  She knew that her relations would disapprove violently of any lady who could be called a ‘Scarlet Woman’.

  As the Italians were renowned gossips, she doubted if a large number of them would not have been aware that the Contessa di Agnolo was living a double life.

  When they arrived at the Villa it was even more magnificent than it had seemed in the distance and she could well understand that the Conte had wanted a beautiful setting for the woman he loved.

  A servant opened the door dressed in a Livery that was very impressive.

  They were led through a hall and along a corridor hung with magnificent pictures.

  Then they went into one of the most beautiful sitting rooms that Jaela had ever seen.

  Everything was white, the walls, the curtains, the coverings on the furniture and the rugs on the polished floor.

  The pictures were by the great Italian Masters and their vivid colours shone like jewels against a velvet setting.

  There were huge crystal vases filled with fresh flowers.

  Jaela was left alone while the doctor ascertained if his patient was ready to receive them.

  She walked round the room and saw glass cases filled with exquisite objets d’art which she was sure must be worth a small fortune.

  She did not have long to look at everything for the doctor returned and he was smiling.

  “The Contessa is delighted that you have come to meet her as she hoped you would,” he said, “but she is very weak and you must not stay long.”

  “I do understand,” Jaela replied.

  They walked up a wide staircase and the doctor then opened a door.

  It was a large room, the same size as the sitting room and, although the sun blinds were down outside, it still seemed to be filled with sunshine.

  Lying back against lace-trimmed pillows in a canopied bed hung with curtains both of muslin and of silk was the Contessa.

  Even though she was pitiably thin, she was still, Jaela thought, one of the most beautiful women she had ever seen.

  Her hair was so fair that it was like the first light of dawn.

  Her eyes, however, were fringed with dark lashes and, because she was so ill, seemed too large for her face. They were pale green flecked with gold and very English.

  She did not look, as Jaela had expected she would, pale and drawn, but she had a touch of colour in both of her cheeks.

  Then she was aware, when she thought about it, that this was part of the terrible disease that was destroying her.

  Jaela walked to the bed and a nurse placed a chair for her so that she could sit down close to the Contessa.

  The sick woman held out her hand which was little more than skin and bone.

  “You have come,” she began in a soft voice.

  “Yes, I have come,” Jaela replied, “and, of course, I will help you in any way I can.”

  “You are so kind.”

  There was a little pause, as if she found it difficult to speak, before she continued,

  “Please take Kathy home to her father. It was wrong of me to bring her away with me, but I loved her so much.”

  The words came jerkily from between her lips and then Jaela ,who was holding her hand, said,

  “I can understand that and I will certainly look after Kathy for you.”

  “He must not be angry with her,” the Contessa stipulated.

  Jaela realised that she was speaking of her husband and she declared consolingly,

  “I am sure that he will be very glad to have his daughter back with him.”

  The Contessa closed her eyes, but she did not take her hand from Jaela’s.

  The doctor and the nurse had moved away. In fact Jaela, without looking round, thought that they had left the room.

  She waited.

  Then the Contessa spoke again,

  “I have no regrets for myself. Love is very very wonderful! But Stafford did not love me.”

  “You have been very happy,” Jaela said, “and that is all that matters now.”

  “Very very happy – ” the Contessa then murmured. “But Kathy must not be punished for me.”

  “No, of course not!” Jaela said hastily.

  “Take her back,” the Contessa said very slowly. “Teach her to be English and it will be better for her that way.”

  “I will try, I promise you I will try,” Jaela stated firmly.

  Looking down at the Contessa, she thought it very pitiful that she should be so ill when she was still so young and so lovely.

  Because she wanted her to feel happy, she affirmed again,

  “I promise you that I will look after Kathy and take her to her father.”

  “You are very kind.”

  The Contessa’s words were barely audible and her eyes were closed.

  Her hand went limp and Jaela realised that she had not the strength to say anything more.

  She rose to her feet.

  She said a little prayer in her heart that the Contessa would die without any more pain.

  Also that the happiness she had known on earth would not be lost in Heaven.

  Then she turned and walked to the end of the room where Dr. Pirelli was waiting for her.

  He drew her from the bedroom and, when they were outside in the corridor, he said in a voice that showed that he was deeply moved,

  “That was very kind of you, Jaela, and no one could have been more gracious.”

  “I am so desperately sorry for her,” Jaela said. “It is such a waste of life to die when she is so young.”

  “She has been ecstatically happy,” the doctor said, “and perhaps none of us can ask for more.”

  He spoke emotionally and Jaela remembered that he was a widower.

  As they were speaking, they had moved not downstairs but along the corridor, which was also filled with some very fine pictures.

  The doctor then opened a door and they went into what Jaela realised was a little girl’s nursery.

  It was beautifully furnished.

  There were toys everywhere, a large dolls’ house and a rocking horse like those English children always had and a number of coloured cardboard bricks were scattered over the floor.

  A little girl was seated amongst them, while an Italian maid was helping her build a castle.

  She looked up as they entered, saw the doctor and, giving a cry of delight, scrambled to her feet.

  “Dr. Pirelli!” she cried. “You are here. Have you brought me some more of those nice sweeties?”

  “I have a whole box of them waiting for you downstairs in my carriage,” the doctor replied, “which I promised you if you were a good girl and did not disturb your Mama.”

  “I have been very very quiet,” Kathy said, “have I not, Giovanna?”

  She asked the question in Italian and the maid answered her in the same language.

  “You have been very good and very quiet.”

  “Then the box is waiting for you,” the doctor said, “and now I want you to meet a very charming lady who is a friend of mine, Miss Jaela Compton.”

  Jaela crouched down so that she was the same height as Kathy.

  “I have been admiring your dolls’ house,” she said. “I used to have one when I was your age, but it was much smaller.”

  “Mine is nice,” Kathy said, “but I like my horse best.”

  “What do you call him?” Jaela asked. “I too had a horse and I rode him before I had a real pony.”

  Kathy, who was not in the least shy, looked at her with interest and Jaela went on,

  “I think if you will come with me to England, as your mother wants you to do, you too will have a real pony of your own.”

  “I will?” Kathy asked. “That would be so lovely! I have wanted a pony, but Mama said there was no room here for it in the garden. But I did ride when we went across the sea.”

  “On a horse or on a camel?”
Jaela asked.

  Kathy laughed.

  “Both! The camel was funny, very very funny!”

  “I am sure it was and you must tell me all about it. If you would like to come home with me, I will show you the photographs of the horses I had when I was in England.”

  “I would like that,” Kathy smiled.

  Jaela looked at the doctor.

  There was a question in her eyes and he answered by nodding his head.

  He spoke to the maid in Italian, telling her to pack some of Kathy’s clothes as quickly as possible.

  Then holding Kathy’s hand, he took her downstairs with Jaela following.

  She realised that the child was very quiet the moment they were outside the nursery and passing her mother’s bedroom.

  She thought it touching that anyone so young had already learnt to be so considerate.

  Only as they reached the hall did Kathy say still in a low voice to the doctor,

  “Can I go and see Mama before we go?”

  “I think your mother is asleep now,” the doctor answered, “but if you would just like to peep in and wave to her and blow her a kiss, you can do that.”

  “I will be very very quiet and I will blow her lots of kisses because I miss kissing her.”

  Jaela understood that the child had been forbidden to kiss or touch her mother because it was dangerous. And yet there was nobody else with her except for the servants.

  They then went to the doctor’s carriage and he presented Kathy with a box of sugared almonds.

  “Thank you, thank you!” she enthused.

  She put up her face in a very natural gesture to kiss the doctor on the cheek.

  She opened the box and offered it to the doctor, who refused, and then to Jaela, who accepted one.

  Then Kathy sat in the open carriage eating one after another.

  “They are very very good,” she said, “but Giovanna says that they will make me fat, so Mama ought to eat some.”

  “Your mother is too ill to eat sweets,” the doctor replied.

  “You are taking a very long time to make her well,” Kathy remarked.

  “I have done my best,” the doctor replied as if he was on the defensive.

  “It is so dull here without Mama,” Kathy said. “I would like to have a little dog to play with, but Uncle Diego says a dog would be a nuisance in the Villa.”

  “I am sure when you get to England you can have a dog,” Jaela suggested hastily.

  She saw Kathy’s eyes light up and knew that this could be a way by which she could gradually forget her mother.

  Jaela had adored her own mother and she knew well that Kathy was going to find it very difficult to adjust herself to a world where she was alone.

  It struck her as if for the first time that she and Kathy were different ages but were more or less in the same boat.

  They were both of them alone with nothing for the moment to cling on to.

  ‘I am sure that her father will mean a great deal to her,’ Jaela told herself consolingly.

  Then she wondered if the Earl would be glad to see his daughter back after he had been deprived of her company for six years of her life.

  It was a problem she certainly did not wish to face at the moment and she brushed it on one side.

  Italians work quickly and in a very short time Giovanna came down the stairs with a case containing some of Kathy’s clothes.

  She also brought with her a bonnet and coat for the child to travel in.

  “Now can I blow kisses to Mama?” Kathy asked the doctor.

  “Yes,” he answered, “but tell nurse what you want to do.”

  Kathy jumped out of the carriage and ran back into the Villa.

  She was only away for a few minutes and when she returned she had her favourite doll in her arms.

  “I should have brought Betsy with me,” she said as if she reproached herself, “but now she will enjoy travelling in the carriage.”

  “I am sure she will,” Jaela said, “and I hope you will too.”

  “I liked driving with Mama,” Kathy replied. “She used to tell me stories about the places we passed.”

  “Then that is something I will do,” Jaela nodded.

  “Do you know any stories?” Kathy enquired.

  “Lots and lots,” Jaela replied. “And I shall want you to tell me some as well.”

  “What about?” Kathy asked.

  “About everything!” Jaela answered. “The flowers, the trees, the sea, the sky. In fact, if you think about it, there are stories everywhere we look.”

  Kathy laughed.

  “That is a funny idea and I want you to tell me all your stories.”

  “I will tell you lots of stories while we are going to England,” Jaela promised, “and you must tell me all the stories about Italy as you have been living here for longer than I have.”

  “Fairy Stories?” Kathy queried.

  “Fairy Stories, stories about Knights, stories of hobgoblins and stories of little girls who enjoy stories.”

  Kathy grinned.

  The doctor had been giving Giovanna instructions about packing all the rest of Kathy’s clothes and now he climbed into the carriage.

  “I am taking you home,” he said, “then I am coming back to see my patient. Some more trunks will be ready then and I will bring them to you this evening.”

  “Thank you,” Jaela replied, “and now I am looking forward to showing Kathy my Villa, and, of course, the fountain.”

  “Have you a fountain all of your own?” Kathy asked.

  “All my own,” Jaela answered, “and there is a special story about where it came from and who made it, besides a Fairy Story of what has been happening while it has been in the Villa.”

  Kathy gave a little cry of delight and slipped her hand into Jaela’s.

  “Tell me, tell me!” she begged. “Tell me the story now. If you do, I will tell you one before I go to bed.”

  “That is a bargain,” Jaela replied.

  She put her arm round the little girl and drew her close.

  She thought as she did so that Kathy was surely one of the most engaging and attractive children she had ever seen.

  She looked up, met the doctor’s eyes and knew that he was smiling his approval.

  She felt that he had been apprehensive as to whether she would do what he had asked of her and take Kathy with her to England.

  For the first time she wondered if there was something that he had not told her about the whole arrangement.

  If there was, it might be a more difficult task than she had anticipated.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Jaela tucked Kathy up in her bed and then bent down to kiss her goodnight.

  To her surprise, the child hesitated.

  Then she asked,

  “Is it safe to kiss you? I was not allowed ‒ to kiss Mama.”

  “It is quite safe,” Jaela replied, “but only if you want to.”

  Kathy looked at her and then she said,

  “I want to, I want to, you are so very nice and kind and you are going to tell me lovely stories.”

  She put her arms around Jaela’s neck and kissed her on the cheek.

  Jaela held her closely and she could not help feeling sad that the little girl had been kept away from her mother.

  The Contessa was, she realised, the only person of importance in the child’s small life.

  She cuddled Kathy and felt her warm little body clinging to her.

  She told herself that she would do everything she could on the way to England and make her happy.

  When Jaela went downstairs to her lonely dinner she thought of what lay ahead.

  She finally decided that it was Fate that was making her leave the Villa when she was still thinking that she would rather stay.

  ‘Kathy and I both have to face a new world,’ she murmured to herself, “and I am only praying it will be a happy one for her and perhaps an interesting one for me.”

  *

&n
bsp; The next morning Dr. Pirelli arrived at the Villa early.

  He had brought with him several trunks that contained Kathy’s clothes besides her most treasured possessions.

  Kathy was playing in the garden and running round the fountain, which fascinated her.

  The doctor sat down in one of the chairs on the balcony.

  There was silence for a moment.

  And then Jaela said,

  “I love Kathy, Dr. Pirelli, and I will look after her, but I want you to be frank with me and tell me everything you know about her father. I have a feeling, but I may be wrong, that you are keeping something back.”

  Dr. Pirelli looked at her uncomfortably.

  “What I had planned,” he said, “was that you should take Kathy to Hale Castle and then forget about her.”

  Jaela raised her eyebrows.

  “As I am the only link with her mother, I think if I did that it would be rather cruel.”

  The doctor did not speak and Jaela went on,

  “Of course her father may welcome her with open arms but I was just thinking last night when I went to bed that, as he has not seen her since she was two years old, he may not be as welcoming as you hope.”

  “She is only a child,” the doctor suggested defensively.

  “I suppose that is a great point in her favour,” Jaela replied, “but he may be one of those men who do not like children,”

  The doctor put his hands together.

  “You are making difficulties, Jaela,” he commented, “and it is unlike you.”

  “I still think that you are keeping something from me,” Jaela retorted.

  There was silence.

  And then Dr. Pirelli gave in,

  “Very well, if you want the truth, some friends of mine, who are English, told me when I was in Paris three years ago that a rather strange thing happened at Hale Castle.”

  “I would like to hear about it,” Jaela stressed firmly.

  The doctor sighed before he went on,

  “They did not know that I was treating the wife of the Earl of Halesworth and I merely asked about him casually and out of curiosity.”

  “And what did they tell you?”

  “They told me there had been a lot of gossip about the Earl because of something strange that had happened concerning him.”

  Jaela was listening intently and the doctor continued,