Page 2 of Change of Heart
‘Right, go on then, tell me what the problem is. I’m sure we can solve it.’ As usual, there was a friendly smile on her ladyship’s face.
Alice shook her head ruefully. ‘I’m afraid that might not be possible. This is out of my hands, and even yours.’ She went on to outline what she had just been told in Marjorie’s office and read sympathy on the faces of her host and hostess. When she got to the end of her tale of woe, she sat back and sipped her tea while the little dog stood up on its hindlegs and did its best to climb onto her lap. Fenella took her time before replying.
‘Well, one thing’s for sure: you can’t take a downward step. That would be just too terribly depressing and I’m sure you wouldn’t want to take a pay cut. Gladys, come here! Leave Alice alone.’
Alice nodded in agreement. ‘It would be awfully depressing, but what choice do I have? At least, what choice do I have if I want to stay in the same sort of job? Stately homes open to the public aren’t that common around here, and I imagine they’ll all be in the same position with these government cuts.’
‘Then you have a simple binary choice.’ Fenella had always been a pragmatic sort of person. ‘Assuming you’re not prepared to take a pay cut and demotion – and you’re quite right not to want to take such a backward step – then as I see it you either need to look for a job in the same sector elsewhere or find a completely different job around here.’
‘This part of England isn’t exactly overflowing with job opportunities. I might be able to find something on a temporary basis over the summer, looking after holiday lets or working in a pub or something similar – assuming it didn’t mean having to be on my feet all the time – but as soon as the autumn comes, I know I’d be out of work again. Besides, those jobs probably won’t pay any more than National Heritage are offering me.’
‘Then we’re just going to need to cast our net wider, aren’t we?’ Alice was touched to hear her friend use the pronoun ‘we’, but she knew her chances of finding something suitable weren’t great.
‘Definitely sounds to me as though you should look further afield.’ Ronald had been standing by the piano, making no comment up till now, and Alice turned her head towards him as he continued. ‘If the British government are cutting back, maybe other countries aren’t in such dire economic straits. You speak Italian, don’t you?’ Alice nodded and he prodded a bit further. ‘How well do you speak it? I know a few people over there. I could ask around and see if there’s anything going.’
‘That’s very sweet of you. I actually speak Italian pretty well, but I haven’t been back in four years, and I’m not sure how I’d feel about trying again. I spent five years living and working there after university but it never led to anything, and I’d already decided I needed to look for something more satisfying and more permanent back here in the UK when the accident happened. You both know the story.’
Fenella caught her eye and nodded. The story of Alice’s crushed leg and the ensuing months of rehab that had caused her to give up her job and return to the UK was well known to her. Alice buried her face in her mug of tea while Ronald carried on.
‘You never know, things may have changed over there. You won’t know unless you try, will you? Whereabouts in Italy were you? Might there be something in that area? Old friends you could contact?’
Alice shook her head again. ‘Not really. I was up in the very north of Italy, high in the Dolomites, but there were precious few opportunities in the heritage business up there. I’ve still got friends up there, but about the only guaranteed vacancies are as ski instructors or mountain guides, and there’s no way I could even think of something like that now. I was lucky to find the job I did, but the accident put paid to it.’
‘What were you doing over there?’
‘The same sort of thing as I do here. I was working in a lovely old former monastery near Cortina d’Ampezzo – initially as a guide and then I got promoted to back-office work, dealing with the local authorities and all that sort of thing. For a while, I genuinely thought it might lead to something bigger and better but, if anything, they were even more strapped for cash then we are over here. No, I doubt there’s much point in thinking about Italy again.’
‘But wouldn’t they take you back, you know, temporarily while you look around for something else?’
The answer to that, Alice felt sure, was yes. Before she had left, the director up there had told her there would always be a job for her if she wanted to come back, but he and she had both known that it would never lead anywhere. Besides, although she had never told anybody apart from her mum, there was another reason why she had no desire to return to the Dolomites, and his name was Maurizio. She had been going out with him for almost a year when the accident happened, but the moment he realised that she was never going to be the same again, he dropped her like a hot cake. After her return to the UK she had never heard from him again; the idea of running into him was distasteful and she knew it would bring back a host of bad memories. She shook her head regretfully but left Maurizio out of it.
‘I expect I could get my old job back, but then I’d just find myself stuck in the same old rut again. That’s why I thought this job here at the manor was the opportunity I needed, but now I feel as if the rug’s been pulled from under my feet.’
Fenella reached out with her free hand and gave Alice’s good knee a supportive tap. ‘Try not to let it get you down, Alice. We’ll spread the word and I’m sure we’ll find something for you. Leave it to us.’
Chapter 2
Lord and Lady Fitzgerald-Chagleigh were as good as their word. Barely four days after her fateful meeting with the HR lady, Alice got a text message from Fenella.
We have news. Can you drop in for a drink on your way home tonight?
Intrigued, Alice replied immediately and duly went across to the Dower House at six o’clock. As usual, she was greeted with a barrage of excited yapping from the poodle and a warm welcome from the friendly couple who led her through to the lounge. A glass of amontillado was thrust into her hand, and she sat down to hear what they had to say.
‘We think we might have found exactly the right thing for you, Alice.’ Fenella was looking and sounding very bubbly. ‘Ronald was speaking to one of his friends in London who knows somebody in Milan who knows somebody in Parma, and it looks like there’s a vacancy for a person with exactly your qualifications and experience.’ She held up her hands to stop Alice from saying anything. ‘Before you say it, Ronald’s told them that you have some mobility problems and they say that wouldn’t be a problem. This really does sound like too good an opportunity to miss.’
Alice nodded mutely, thinking hard, trying to remember where Parma was. She knew it was somewhere in central or northern Italy, but she wasn’t completely sure. Ronald must have noted her uncertainty and he explained.
‘I had to look it up on the map to see exactly where it is. Parma’s in northern Italy, near Modena, just above Bologna and Florence. Of course, the name was immediately familiar because of Parma ham and Parmesan cheese, but I wasn’t sure where it was. I’ve been reading up on it and it sounds like a lovely city, and that whole area looks very historic and peppered with castles and fortresses. Mind you, that’s the region where Ferrari and Lamborghini have their factories so it’s potentially a rich industrial area too. The place in question is about thirty kilometres south-west of Parma, up in the hills at an altitude of about four or five hundred meters. The castle itself dates back to the thirteen hundreds, so that makes it seven hundred years old. That’s even older than this place.’ He sounded impressed.
‘The castle?’
Alice saw him consult his iPad. ‘It belongs to a family called Varaldo. Apparently they’re descendants of one of the big players in Italian history, the Malaspina family, who built the original castle. My friend Cyril’s friend in Milan tells me that the Varaldo family have decided to open the castle to the public for the very first time, and they need somebody with experience, to organise that for them and then stay on to run the place. With your degree in estate management and your experience in Italy and over here, we think you’d be perfect.’
Alice took a cautious sip of sherry. She had never really been a great fan of the drink, but she knew by now that Fitzgerald-Chagleigh family tradition decreed that they had to dole out glasses of it to all visitors old enough to wear long trousers. It was a bit too sweet for her taste, but quite drinkable, and this delaying tactic gave her time to think. On the face of it, the job they were proposing sounded like a gift from the gods – especially if they really didn’t mind that she wasn’t as mobile as she used to be. The trouble was that it would be a major step to take and one fraught with uncertainties. Still, as much for the sake of these two kind people as anything else, she did her best to give it serious consideration.
A medieval castle sounded amazing, although whether or not it would lend itself to being opened to the public would depend very much on its condition. While her knowledge of Italian health and safety regulations was four years old now, Alice was reasonably sure nothing much would have changed. Just like here in the UK, no chances should be taken. If any part of the building looked like it was going to collapse on top of visitors, or if any place or object presented a hazard, there would be no way the owners would be able to get permission or, more crucially, obtain the all-important accident and injury insurance to allow them to proceed. Before she could query further, it appeared that Ronald had been thinking along the same lines. He picked up his iPad again, scrolled through and handed it across to her.
‘Here it is. See what you think. Considering how old it is, it looks in pretty good condition.’
