Page 7 of A Chance in a Million
‘And you’re happy to leave Venice?’
‘I am. I’m not from the city. I’m a country girl originally and I’m dying for a bit of fresh air. Alvise is a Venetian through and through so it’s tougher for him to leave all his friends, but even he enjoys getting away in summer. I’m sure you will, too.’
‘And no doubt Dino will as well.’
‘He lives up there anyway. That’s where David, Her Ladyship’s son, lives.’
‘With his grandmother?’
‘He lives in a separate house up there.’ She caught Jane’s eye and smiled. ‘It’s a very big estate.’
‘I see. And what does he do? His mother said he used to be in the British Army, like his father.’
For a fraction of a second Jane thought she glimpsed a look of compassion on her face and she wondered what could have caused it. However, the expression disappeared again without trace as Maria answered.
‘He’s a writer now. He’s ever so brainy.’
‘Like mother, like son. It must run in the family.’
‘Yes, indeed, but he writes history books – you know, serious non-fiction, not like his mother’s books.’
Since they were well away from any curious ears, Jane decided to do a little bit of digging as far as their employer was concerned. ‘Miss Leonard… Her Ladyship told me last night that she hasn’t written a thing for ages. Is that because of the death of her husband?’
Maria nodded sadly. ‘I’m afraid so. She and Sir Peter were together for forty years and she was devoted to him. I’ve been working for them ever since they moved into the palazzo thirty years ago. His death hit her hard, I’m afraid. It’s been two years now and she’s still not showing any signs of coming out of it.’ She caught Jane’s eye for a moment. ‘Alvise and I are very worried for her, but what can we do?’
‘Can’t her son help? Or does she have other children?’
‘There’s not much help coming from him, I’m afraid. He’s very much a recluse these days. He spends almost all his time up at the estate and doesn’t come here often. Don’t get me wrong – he and his mother get on well but he’s decided to hide himself away.’ Yet again that look of deep sympathy. ‘Her Ladyship has two daughters; Beatrice and Diana. Beatrice is the eldest child. She’s recently divorced and lives in Rome with her little girl, while Diana, the youngest, has been studying in New York and she only comes back every now and then. So Lady Cooper’s left on her own – apart from Signora Flora and Alvise and me of course.’
‘Poor lady. Well, I’ll try to do my bit to help cheer her up.’ Although, she told herself ruefully, it would help if she could learn how to cheer herself up first.
Chapter 4
It was almost midday before Miss Leonard emerged from her room.
After returning from the shopping expedition, Jane had pulled out her laptop and spent some time looking for books by David Cooper, but without success, even though she tried both UK and Italian retailers. Of course it was possible he hadn’t had any books published yet, but the way Maria had spoken, she was surprised. Then she had a moment of inspiration and tried David Leonard and struck gold. Evidently he had adopted his mother’s maiden name for his own pen name and she wondered why. There was a serious-looking book about the First World War, and a brief glance at the contents made it obvious that he had an almost encyclopaedic knowledge of his subject.
She did a bit more digging into the Cooper family background on Google and discovered mention of Beatrice’s wedding ten years earlier. A photo showed a beaming bride and her husband standing outside a wonderful old church. Sadly, from what Maria had said, the marriage had turned sour and ended badly. Before she could get around to Diana, her research was interrupted as the phone on her desk started to ring. It was her employer. Clearly there was some sort of intercom facility incorporated in the phone system.
‘Good morning, Captain Reed. If you could spare me a few minutes, I’ll be in the lounge.’ She sounded quite cordial and Jane was relieved.
‘I’m on my way.’
When Jane opened her door, she almost tripped over a large back shape, almost invisible on the dark red rug, stretched out at the top of the stairs.
‘Dino, you’ll be the death of me.’
He just wagged his tail and stood up to lick her hand as she made a fuss of him. All the way down the stairs she could hear the clicking of his nails on the floor behind her. When she reached the door to the living room she hesitated before deciding she should knock. A voice from within answered her.
‘No need to knock. Come in, come in.’
The Labrador nosed the door open and led the way. Inside, Jane found her employer standing at the window with a cup of coffee in her hand.
‘Good morning, Captain Reed. Would you like a coffee? There’s a fresh pot on the table.Ciao, Dino, come stai?’ She patted the dog’s head and Jane was pleased to see her expression soften.
‘Good morning, Miss Leonard.’ Jane went across and poured herself a little cup of strong black coffee from a well-used old Moka pot. ‘Did you sleep well?’
‘Not really, but I’m used to it now. I gather from Maria that she’s been showing you the lesser-known sights of Venice.’ There was a warmer note in her voice and Jane took heart.
