Broken Chord Read Online Free PDF

Outside, the girl was leaning against an expensive car and Roberto was kissing her, a lengthy deep kiss, which lasted long enough for him to reach his own vehicle. When they drove away, he followed them in his small dark car, watched as they turned into a driveway and made a note of the address. He parked in the shadows and a waited for a while before deciding to call it off for the night. Roberto was obviously going nowhere.
     
    After the concert Ursula and Guido left almost straight away. She wasn’t tempted by the food laid out attractively in Fiona’s rathervulgar dining room. Guido looked round at the heavy curtains and the Baroque cherubs that were in abundance. He went over to examine a painting of Saint Sebastian. Ubaldo said, “Grim, isn’t it?”
    “Yes, and undoubtedly a fake,” replied Guido. He smiled at Ubaldo, who moved forward to examine the painting more carefully. Then he joined Ursula who was drinking champagne, picked up a small pastry basket of caviar, examined it and replaced it on his plate and muttered, “Prepared yesterday by the smell of it. Don’t even think of touching it. Shall we go?”
    Ursula nodded and they went to say goodbye to their hosts. She was already planning her own soirée which was going to be far, far better than Fiona’s pallid effort. She knew a world famous violist extremely well, in fact had once known him quite intimately, who was sure to come and play in the name of their old friendship. It had been an amicable parting so there was no rancour on either side. She would probably play something herself, after a bit of practice. She mentally ran through her repertoire.
    When they got home she jotted down a few notes while Guido was in the shower. When he came out he was surprised to see her still fully dressed.
    “Aren’t you tired?”
    “Not a bit. I’m busy working out the details of my charity concert. Oh Guido, it’s going to be so fantastic.”
    “Do you mind if I go to bed? I’m terribly tired and I think I had rather too many glasses of that disgusting cheap champagne.”
    “Fiona’s always been a cheapskate. That’s one mistake I won’t make. The trouble with old money is that they are so determined to hang on to it that they scrimp.” “Hardly surprising, they never know how long it’s going to last,” he said, thinking, ‘unlike you with your limitless pot of industrial gold’.
    Ursula gave him one of her serious looks. “You’re right of course. I can never understand why I get looked down on for being nouveau riche, and it’s not that nouveau anyway.”
    “Jealousy, darling. While they live in their crumbling palazzos, trying to ignore the cracks in the plaster, you can spend whatever you like on doing up the family ruins.”
    Ursula smiled grimly. “Wait till they see what I’ve done with this.” It still rankled that she had been snubbed by the Florentine aristocrats. The things she wanted were things that money couldn’t buy, but she was going to get there in the end.
    She said, “You poor boy; I can see you’re dropping. Get your head down and I’ll potter off to the study and jot down a few more things while they’re fresh in my mind.”
    Guido crawled into bed and was asleep within a few minutes. Ursula kicked off her evening shoes and wandered along to the study where she began working out a guest list and a seating plan. Marta would no doubt have some amazing ideas for the food and Piero would see to the extra staff.
    She heard Marianna come in giggling and whispering on the stairs with that wretched boy. She remembered that as their limo had drawn up she’d noticed her own car was not in its usual place. It was extremely irritating. Marianna had taken it again and she didn’t have a licence because she wasn’t yet eighteen. This had to stop. All of it. The thought that her daughter was upstairs giving her perfect body to that clod was so offensive she felt nauseous. What a waste. Even worse was the thought that she was