Ibbotson, Eva - Magic Flutes

‘I’ll talk to you later, Witzler. Now, go away.’

‘Yes, Herr Farne.’

But Witzler had now seen Tessa, standing beside the Englishman and reminding him suddenly of Our Lady of Sprotz, glowing with candles as she was carried through the streets at Easter – a sinful and unforgettable sight he had beheld from his bedroom window while studying for his bar mitzvah. He bowed, left and rushed down the steps to where Boris was waiting.

‘It’s all right, it’s splendid – it’s all as we hoped! You should see how he looks at Tessa: as if she had at that moment been lowered from Paradise!’

‘So he should,’ said Boris gruffly. He had been so impressed by his own appearance as chief bailiff that he was growing a South American moustache, an enterprise still in its infancy.

‘Tristan is a herring compared to him,’ continued Witzler. ‘You’ll see, he’ll deny her nothing! Our accounts he may audit,’ Jacob admitted, ‘but that is all.’

A great radiance spread over his Old Testament countenance as he looked into the future. The plate-layers’ chorus wafting from the battlements . . . Raisa soaking up the ultra-violet . . . Pino’s uvula awash with eggs . . . And later, Cosi Fan Tutte and Figaro . . .

‘I shall learn to milk a cow,’ said Jacob, and hurried off to find a telephone and give his Rhinemaiden the joyful news.

‘Guy, I don’t think I completely understand,’ said Tessa, when they were alone at last.

‘It’s quite simple. I decided that the time had come to terminate my engagement to Nerine. However, I had no desire to humiliate her personally, nor did I wish to be embroiled in a messy breach of promise case. So I hired Witzler’s troupe to act as bailiffs and strip the place. Your friend, Bubi, gave me the idea – bailiffs seemed to be much on his mind. It was an absurd charade and wouldn’t have deceived anyone with the slightest faith in me. Even Martha smelled a rat, though fortunately, she held her tongue. But as you see, it worked.’

‘So you’re not ruined at all?’ said Tessa, abandoning with reluctance the free and roaming life with shoelaces she had envisaged.

‘I’m afraid not. In fact, I used the time to pull off a couple of rather profitable deals. You’re disappointed, I see. Don’t you think a wealthy husband might be quite useful, in view of your penchant for succouring the arts?’

Tessa nodded, seeing the justice of this. ‘Only, I do have this wedding dress which I think it would be a pity to waste. It’s from Lucia di Lammermoor, but it’s not bloodstained. It’s the nightdress that’s—’

But the helpful exposition on the plot of Donizetti’s masterpiece which Tessa was preparing, was cut short by Guy who now told her to be quiet.

‘I’m going to kiss you, you see,’ he explained.

Then he kissed her.

It was a very long time before he let her go. When he did, she looked up at him, hurt and bewilderment on her face.

‘Why did you stop?’ asked Tessa.

‘I thought you might want to breathe,’ said Guy carefully.

‘Breathe?’ said Tessa, shocked. ‘I don’t need to breathe when I’m with you.’

What came into his eyes then – eyes which seemed, at that moment, to have invented the colour blue – made her put up a hand as though to shield herself from so much joy.

This hand he now removed.

‘In that case . . .’ said Guy.

Eva Ibbotson was born in Vienna, but when the Nazis came to power her family fled to England and she was sent to boarding school. She planned to become a physiologist, but hated doing experiments on animals, and was rescued from some fierce rabbits by her husband-to-be. She became a writer while bringing up her four children, and her bestselling novels for both adults and children have been published around the world. Her books have also won and been shortlisted for many prizes. Journey to the River Sea won the Nestlé Gold Award and was runner-up for the Whitbread Children’s Book of the Year and the Guardian Fiction Award. The Star of Kazan won the Nestlé Silver Award and was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal. Eva lives in Newcastle.

Also by Eva Ibbotson

A Company of Swans

A Song for Summer

The Morning Gift

The Secret Countess

For younger readers

Journey to the River Sea

The Star of Kazan

The Dragonfly Pool

The Beasts of Clawstone Castle

The Great Ghost Rescue

Which Witch? The Haunting of Hiram

Not Just a Witch

The Secret of Platform 13

Dial a Ghost

Monster Mission

First published in Great Britain 1982 by Century Publishing Co. Ltd

This edition published 2009 by Young Picador

This electronic edition published 2010 by Young Picador

an imprint of Pan Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited

Pan Macmillan, 20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR

Basingstoke and Oxford

Associated companies throughout the world

www.panmacmillan.com

ISBN 978-0-330-50533-8 PDF

ISBN 978-0-330-50532-1 EPUB

Copyright © Eva Ibbotson 1982, 2009

The right of Eva Ibbotson to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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