AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She thought, I was all she had...
She bit her lip hard. ‘Of course I’ll be happy for you, Cilly-Billy,’ she said, after a pause. ‘It—just takes some getting used to. That’s all.’
She smiled up with an effort. ‘And now I really would like to relax. All that sightseeing seems to have knocked me out.’
Cilla nodded and rose. She looked down at Ginny, her lips puckering in faint anxiety.
She said in a rush, ‘But it could happen for you too, Ginny. You could fall in love—if you’d only let yourself. I’m sure of it.’
Ginny kept smiling. ‘Perhaps we’re not all that lucky.’
Alone again, she turned over and lay like a stone, her face buried in the pillow. And whispered again, ‘That’s all.’
It was a real struggle not to weep her heart out for all she had lost.
Except it had not been lost. Because she’d thrown it away by refusing to face the truth that she was in love with him, and always had been.
Probably from that first moment. And why could she see that so clearly now—when it was all too late?
But she was glad she’d won the battle with her tears when, barely ten minutes later, her door was thrown open and Andre strode in.
She sat up, staring at him. ‘I thought you had visitors.’
‘They have gone.’
‘And I said I did not want a discussion.’
‘Nevertheless, there must be one.’ His face was set and grim. ‘And about our own future rather than that of Lucille.’
As if there could be any difference...
She met his gaze. ‘Whereas I say that you and I have no future. That we should cut our losses and go our separate ways.’
‘Separate?’ He almost spat the word. ‘How can that be when we are for ever linked by the child you are carrying? When...’ He stopped, shaking his head.
Her throat tightened. ‘I—I’ve no idea. I only know that I can’t stay here. That you must let me go. And the sooner the better.’
There was a silence, then he said quietly, ‘I can no longer argue against that. There are details to be settled, naturellement, which my lawyer, Henri Dechesnes, will discuss with you.’
And as he was here earlier, no doubt most of the discussion has already taken place...
She nodded. ‘That would probably be best.’ She added jerkily, ‘Don’t worry, Andre. I won’t ask for very much.’
His voice was ragged with sudden bitterness. ‘You do not have to tell me that, Virginie. Je crois bien. And I was a fool ever to think—ever to hope for more.’
He paused. ‘I shall go now and tell my father what has been decided.’
She steadied her voice. ‘I’m sure he already knows—and will think we’ve made absolutely the right choices.’
‘Au contraire, I am certain he will be deeply disappointed in us both, and will say so over dinner.’
She said quickly, ‘Which would hardly be fair on Cilla. So, perhaps you’ll make my excuses—and ask Clothilde to bring me some soup up here.’
‘D’accord—if that is what you want.’
No, she thought, as he walked to the door. It is not what I want. But everything I truly wish must remain my secret until I’m out of here. And probably for ever.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
GINNY AWOKE WITH a start, and lay for a moment wondering what had disturbed her.
She had not expected to sleep at all, yet it seemed she had done so, and deeply, because her supper tray, delivered with chilling disapproval by an unsmiling Madame Rameau, had been removed at some point without her being aware of it.
It was still early, but a persistent sense of restless unease drove her out of bed and across to the window to open the shutters on another cloudless blue sky lit by a misty sun.
She had not believed, that first morning, that she would ever find the view of the vines so appealing, or how quick she would be to see how they changed with the passing weeks. Or how much she would miss them. Miss everything, she thought. And everyone.
At present, the sap was rising, making the branches look as if they were weeping. Not that she’d seen it for herself, of course. It was one of the pieces of information that Cilla had acquired and eagerly passed on.
When she came to dress, after her shower, she found she was wrestling with the zip on her jeans, a discovery adding to her woes but spurring her into action at the same time.
I need to go online, she told herself. Now, while I have the house to myself. Find out about flights back to the UK. Jump before I’m pushed.
As she made her way up to the office, she became aware of an unfamiliar noise. A vague but persistent whine of machinery in swift bursts, getting louder as she mounted the winding stairs.
