Page 101 of One More Christmas at the Castle
‘Admit you’re dying to see the film, too.’
‘OK – yes, I am,’ I agreed. ‘The younger Sabine Powys, letting her hair down with her friends, should be interesting! A glimpse into the past.’
Lucy went to church after breakfast, but apparently Nancy had decided the vicar was not on her wavelength. Instead, while Mrs Powys recorded her usual session with Xan, she helped Henry whip round the bedrooms again.
Then she and Mrs Powys wrapped themselves up warmly and went for a walk in the garden.
‘Nancy now knows my entire life historyandsome of yours,too, darling,’ Henry announced, coming into the kitchen where I was, as usual, whipping up a culinary storm. ‘I’m afraid she just eases it out of me, without even seeming to ask questions.’
I looked at him. ‘So, which of my secrets did you blab?’
‘Oh, all about your being brought up by an elderly relative … your childhood sweetheart, Liam … his being one of the group of friends we travelled around Europe with after graduation and his dumping you in Avignon …’
‘That was fairly comprehensive,’ I said drily. ‘Did you also tell her about Kieran, your long-term boyfriend, jumping ship for that waiter at the same time?’
‘Oh, yes, and that Avignon was a doomed place for us both.’
‘You certainly did spill your soul,’ I said, carrying on making the little suet dumplings that I’d pop into the beef bourguignon.
‘Very cathartic, though, darling. I even whipped through our further adventures, when it was just us two roaming round the continent, and how we found ourselves catering, at five minutes’ notice, for a super-smart house party on the Riviera. And so,’ he finished, ‘our Heavenly Houseparties business was born.’
‘You managed all that, in the short time it took you both to make the beds and tweak the bathrooms?’ I said incredulously.
‘Pretty much, though she’d already had one instalment.’
I finished the dumplings and my mind turned back to what I was doing. ‘I think something very simple for dessert – chocolate custards in ramekins, perhaps …’
‘I’ve lost you again,’ he said.
‘No, I’m still here …’ I said vaguely. ‘You know, I think I’ll make a pineapple upside-down cake for tomorrow’s dessert, while I’m at it.’
29
Old Haunts
Nancy wandered in soon after, her high cheekbones flushed even pinker than usual, perhaps from the cold.
‘When we got back from our walk, Sabine sat down by the sitting-room fire with the newspapers and immediately fell asleep, so I thought I’d come and make a cup of tea – and one for you, too, perhaps?’
‘Yes, please – but coffee for me.’
‘Ah, a coffee drinker, like Xan!’ she said, and when she’d put the mug by my elbow, sat down to watch me work.
‘Something smells delicious!’
‘It’s slow-cooked beef bourguignon,’ I said.
‘Sabine told me Sunday dinner is at two, as it will be on Christmas Day.’
‘Yes, I’ll aim to have it on the table by then,’ I agreed.
‘That will be quite a feat, with so many more to cook for,’ Nancy said, and added, ‘I’m so glad Sabine’s illness hasn’t prevented her from enjoying all the lovely meals you produce, even if she can’t eat as much as she used to.’
‘Perhaps the cold walk will have given her a good appetite for lunch,’ I suggested.
‘The Winter Garden was looking especially lovely today. There are already so many daffodils and snowdrops out, and I’m sure I could see crocuses coming through! It’s so amazing the way things flourish here in winter, when we’re so far north!’
‘I know. That sheltered terrace feels as if it’s under some sort of enchantment,’ I agreed, then smiled. ‘But then, the Castle itself feels a bit like that, too – under a magical spell!’
