ANNE WEALE - The Impatient Virgin

When Van and his friend arrived, Anny was in the contessa’ s bedroom, reading aloud to her. Voices and footsteps on the stairs made her pause. Moments later there was a familiar knock at the door and Van walked in accompanied by a red-haired girl whom Anny would have liked to dislike on sight but had to admit was strikingly attractive.

As he crossed the room to embrace his great-grandmother, Van gave Anny a smile. After greeting the old lady with his usual warmth, he introduced his companion.

‘Theodora, this is Maddy Forrester. She’s the great-granddaughter of a friend of yours, Virginia Forrester... Virginia Ferguson as she was when you knew her.’

The discovery that Van and the redhead had links going back to the time when the contessa was young made Anny’s spirits sink even lower. But when it was her turn to be introduced, she forced herself to behave as if she was delighted to meet Maddy.

Two days later, most of which Van had spent in the old lady’s company, leaving Maddy to get to know the Howards, Sea Dreams left her anchorage on a southwest course for the Balearics.

‘Thanks for looking after Maddy for me,’ said Van, following Anny below decks while Bart was letting the American girl take the helm for a short time. ‘I wanted to spend as much time as possible with Theodora. She’s aged a lot, hasn’t she?’

Anny nodded. ‘I don’t think she’s going to be here very much longer,’ she said sadly.

‘When I saw how things stood I wanted to cancel the trip and stay with her,’ said Van. ‘Maddy wouldn’t have minded. But Theodora wouldn’t hear of it. She became quite distressed.’

Anny knew, but perhaps he might not, that Theodora’s husband had proposed to her when they had both been guests on a large and extremely luxurious American yacht. Perhaps she hoped history would repeat itself and by the time they returned Van and Maddy would have sealed their relationship on board the schooner.

‘When you said you were bringing a friend, we assumed she was coming with you from America,’ she said, starting preparations for lunch. ‘Then Maddy explained she lives in Paris. I’m hoping she’ll convince Bart that if I get a job there I won’t be risking my neck every time I go out of the door.’

Van stationed himself where he wouldn’t be in her way. In the confined space between decks he seemed even larger than usual.

‘Maddy’s been there a couple of years. I expect she’s told you she works for the Paris bureau of CNN. Her brother and I were at college together so we go back a long way. But there was a break of a few years before we ran into each other while she was back in New York. D’you like her?’

‘Who wouldn’t?’ said Anny, rinsing lettuce.

‘How’s the writing going? What have you sold since I last saw you?’

She told him, adding, ‘Van, would you look at my CV...tell me how to improve it?’

‘Maddy’s your best advisor. We’ll both look at it for you.’

‘Thanks.’

But Anny didn’t want their combined opinion. She wanted to recapture, if only briefly, the close companionship of previous voyages.

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