Page 36 of Mrs. Endicott's Splendid Adventure
“Naturally they picked the worst job possible to teach people like Tommy a lesson,” Clive said with bitterness in his voice. “I was young and naïve enough to do my duty and enlist at eighteen, and I was sent straight to the front. Absolute hell. It’s no wonder men’s minds snapped. Anyway, I was one of the bodies that Tommy retrieved. Just about alive. Horribly wounded. He brought me to safety, and he came to check onme all the time while I hovered between life and death. When they were convinced I’d live, I was sent to a convalescent hospital. Tommy came to visit me once he was back home. Without his care and encouragement, I don’t think I’d have made it.”
He and Tommy exchanged a smile.
“Anyway, our relationship grew during that trying time.” Tommy glanced across at Clive as he said this, as if assessing if he was saying too much. “I went back to my old job as a teacher at a private school, and when Clive was discharged from the convalescent home, I realized he wasn’t ready to live alone, so I brought him to live with me. And all went well until a meddling female teacher found out about us and alerted the authorities. We learned they were coming to arrest us, so we made a rapid exit. Clive is a painter, so we came to the South, where the light is so marvellous. Found this place. Loved it. Sold my house in England, inherited a small amount from my parents and here we are.”
They had finished the first course, and Tommy got up to clear away the dishes. Then he brought out a large pie from the oven and put it on a mat in the middle of the table. “Mushroom tart,” he said. “It’s the time of year for mushrooms. And don’t worry, we gather them all the time. We’re not going to poison you.”
The pastry was light and flaky, the mushroom filling rich and almost meaty, and it was accompanied with a salad of mixed greens, including what Ellie assumed to be dandelions. Silence fell as the women ate.
“I’d love the recipe for this,” Ellie said. “It’s delicious.”
“You like to cook?” Tommy asked.
“I do. At home we gave frequent dinner parties, so I had to do a lot of cooking.”
“We?” Tommy asked. “You’re a widow, then?”
“Divorced,” Ellie said. “My husband suddenly decided he wanted to marry a younger woman, so I was cast aside.”
“Stupid man,” Tommy said. “He wants his head examined.”
“It’s probably the best thing that ever happened to me,” Ellie said. “For the first time I feel free to make my own decisions, live my ownlife. I have no idea where we’ll be tomorrow, and I don’t find that frightening at all.”
“Good for you,” Clive said. “What about you, then?” He turned to Mavis, who went red.
“I’m just having a bit of a holiday, I suppose,” she said.
“Mavis used to help me with the housework,” Ellie said. “She had a violent bully of a husband, so I persuaded her to come with us. It will give her time to decide what she wants to do next.”
“And this lady is a relative?” Clive turned to Dora.
“Just a good friend who had a longing to see the South of France again,” Ellie said for her. “So we escaped together, three of us on an adventure, only now we are four. We rescued a young French girl who finds herself pregnant and abandoned.”
“You’re as bad as us and our cats,” Clive said, making them laugh.
“So you’re a painter,” Dora said, changing the subject. “Are these your work?” She pointed at the walls.
Clive nodded. “What do you think?”
“So fresh. So vibrant,” Dora said. “I always regret that I never learned to paint. I think I would have enjoyed it.”
“It’s never too late, dear lady,” Clive said. “If you stay on here, I’ll be happy to give you some lessons. I do for the English winter visitors, you know.”
“Oh, how kind.” Dora looked quite pink with excitement. “Alas, we are only staying until the motor car is mended.”
“If we did want to stay longer,” Ellie said hesitantly, “is there anywhere one could rent?”
“Various people rent out rooms during the season,” Tommy said, looking at Clive. “But all pretty basic and nowhere where you could cook for yourself. Nowhere you’d want to stay long-term.”
“There’s always the villa,” Clive said with a wicked smile on his face.
“Villa?” Ellie was instantly alert.
“The Villa Gloriosa,” Clive repeated, still smiling.
“There’s a villa for rent?” Ellie asked excitedly.
“He’s just joking,” Tommy said. “There is a villa on the cliffs just above the village, but it’s abandoned, deserted. It hasn’t been occupied for maybe thirty years.”
