Into Temptation (Spoils of Time 03) Read Online Free PDF Page A

been hideous—’
    ‘Who’s Bunny?’
    ‘Lord Arden. Old nickname, he’s called Peter, you see, and—’
    ‘Peter Rabbit! Of course. I didn’t realise you know him that well!’
    ‘He helped me escape from France. In 1940. Got me – well – ’ she hesitated ‘ – more or less got me – a place on one of the very last boats from Bordeaux. We travelled back together. Me and him, and the children of course.’
    ‘I hadn’t realised. It sounds madly exciting.’
    ‘It was terrifying. But he is a sweetie.’
    ‘So was Oliver. Your mother seems to attract gentlemen.’
    ‘He’s a much softer touch than Daddy,’ said Adele. ‘He wasn’t anything like the pushover he seemed.’
    ‘So Jay always tells me. Not my observation, but—’
    ‘No it’s true. His will was as strong as Mummy’s and he was just as awkward in his own way, but he kept it well under wraps. Boy, darling, hallo, how many of your dynasty have you brought with you?’
    ‘Only four,’ said Boy Warwick, giving them both a kiss. ‘God, I don’t know which of you girls is more beautiful. Adele my darling, let me get you a drink. I’m acting as hostess for the time being.’
    Adele relaxed; if Boy was in charge of things, then there was no need to worry. Of all his virtues, his ability to make any event run sweetly smooth was, in her view, the greatest.
    Suddenly, absurdly, she longed for her father; sitting in his wheelchair by the fire, dispensing the odd mixture of charm and detachment that had been so uniquely his. There would have been no tantrums had he been there. But then there would have been no cause for any, not this evening at any rate, she thought, shaking herself mentally, no shocking announcement to make, no well-buried griefs to disturb . . .
    ‘I know,’ said Venetia, giving her a kiss. ‘I just thought that too.’
    ‘How did you know—’
    ‘I saw you looking at his place. And thought—’
    ‘It seems so soon,’ said Adele, ‘that’s what I keep thinking. So soon. A year, that’s all. And—’
    ‘When you get to my age, Adele, years are in shorter supply. You might think about that. It is one of the things I was going to speak about later.’
    Adele turned. Her mother was smiling at her, apparently good-naturedly. Celia was pale but perfectly composed; she showed no sign of the intense emotional trauma she had just endured.
    ‘I have just heard that Kit can’t come. Such a pity. But – he’s very busy.’
    And very, very shocked and distressed, Venetia thought; hardly surprising that he had refused to attend.
    ‘I’m – afraid Lucas can’t come either,’ said Adele. ‘I’m so sorry. He’s working terribly hard at school, and he’s tired and – here, he’s written you a note—’
    Celia looked at it briefly, her face absolutely expressionless, then walked over and tossed it in the fire.
    ‘Very rude,’ she said, returning to Adele, ‘to you, as well as to me. He has no manners Adele. You should teach him some.’
    ‘Mummy—’
    ‘Adele I don’t want to hear yet again about Lucas’s tragic childhood, the loss of his father, all that rubbish. Noni had exactly the same, with the difference that she could actually remember her father. Lucas trades on the whole thing quite disgracefully. And you shouldn’t allow it. Tell him we didn’t miss him for a single moment. Boy, dear, I think we should go in at once, everyone’s here.’
    Everyone except Kit, thought Venetia, following her mother into the dining room, taking her usual place in between her and Jay. With Giles at the other end of the table and Helena next to him, it was all so clearly prescribed by Celia that they never questioned it. The only changes came with death. Once Jay’s mother had sat where he was now, and Oliver – of course – opposite her mother. Kit’s place remained empty; Celia told Mrs Hardwicke, the housekeeper, to leave it.
    ‘He may still come,’ she said briefly, and then as Mrs Hardwicke continued to