Page 161 of The Affairs of Ashmore Castle

‘But what if you get ill? Who will look after you?’

‘I shan’t get ill,’ he said. ‘And I have a good medical kit in my chest.’

‘Why do you need that, if you’re not going to get ill?’

He snapped the clasp closed and went over to her. She stood as though frozen. She seemed very pale, too. He half thought that if he touched her she would shatter like ice. ‘I’ll be all right,’ he said kindly. ‘I’ve done this before.’

She looked up at him intently, as though memorising his face. ‘You will come back?’

He tried to smile. ‘What sort of question is that? Of course I will. I’ll just be a few weeks. I have to get away, Kitty. You understand, don’t you?’

‘No,’ she said. Everything she loved was here. She had no need to go anywhere else. ‘But I know you will go. Just promise me—’

He didn’t want her to complete that sentence. There were things she might ask that he couldn’t promise. He took hold of her by the upper arms and stooped to kiss her. Her lips were eager under his. When the kiss ended, the words had stopped, and there were tears on her eyelashes.

Alice appeared in the doorway. ‘The carriage is here, Giles.’

Giles looked down at Kitty. ‘We must go down,’ he said. It was almost a question.

Kitty released herself. She looked around. ‘My hat,’ she said vaguely.

‘No,’ he said. ‘Don’t come to the station. No more goodbyes. It’s only for a few weeks, goose!’

‘A few weeks?’ Alice asked from the door. ‘Does that mean you’ll be back for Christmas?’

‘Well, perhaps not that few,’ Giles said. ‘Remember it takes a couple of weeks to get out there. And then there’s—’

‘He’ll come back when he’s ready, Alice,’ Kitty said loyally. ‘It’s not for you to question.’

Sebastian had asked Kitty if he could borrow Dory again. They travelled separately on the train, as was proper, but Sebastian directed her into his cab from the station to Wisteria House. ‘I expect you’re wondering what task lies ahead of you,’ he said. ‘I’ve made some changes, and I’d like your opinion on the result. And perhaps to ask you to arrange things nicely – whatever it is women do to make a house look like a home.’

‘You mean, provide a woman’s touch?’ she asked, amused.

‘Precisely.’

‘I will, of course, do anything you like, sir, but don’t you think she’ll have her own ideas?’

‘Who?’ he said vaguely.

‘The lady you’re doing it all for,’ she said. He looked at her with one eyebrow raised. ‘You’ve lived in that house for years and been content with it. And you wouldn’t have needed to consult anyone about your own taste, would you?’

‘No, I wouldn’t. That’s logical.’

‘Then perhaps you should wait and let her do it when she comes.’

He thought a moment. ‘Well, she can change things round if she doesn’t like them. In fact, I expect she will, anyway. Don’t ladies like to rearrange everything on a regular basis?’

‘Depends what else they’ve got to do,’ she said. ‘I think it’s mostly bored ladies who have the furniture moved about.’

He smiled, and turned away to look out of the window, ending the conversation.

At Wisteria House, Dory was greeted warmly by Mrs May. ‘We’ve had so many changes since you were last here, dear,’ she said. ‘The house done up from top to toe. I’m sorry there’s a smell of paint still. I’ve done my best airing the rooms, but it does stick. Does it bother you?’

‘It’s rather nice, in a way – a clean smell.’

‘I’m glad you think so. I must have used a gallon of lavender wax but it doesn’t cover it. No Mr Crooks this time?’

‘Apparently not. I suppose Mr Sebastian’s not staying long.’