He rubbed both horses down and leaned against the doorway, staring out at the quadrangle in the direction where he’d last seen Izzy.
Izzy groaned. It had been difficult to make Jess understand that she was just as fed up with Catherine as Jess had been, but that being confined to a small boat for nearly three weeks was not the place to keep up a grudge. ‘There’s nothing we can do about it now,’ Izzy said, checking her reflection in the mirror and smoothing down the skirt of her slightly less creased dress.
Jess mumbled something, but she couldn’t make it out. ‘Hurry up, will you?’ she said, opening the bedroom door and waiting for Jess to join her. ‘We’re going to be late if we’re not careful.’
‘The thought of having to put up with that snooty cow has given me a stinking headache,’ Jess moaned as they hurried down the corridors, trying to find the rest of the guests. ‘It’s all bloody Catherine’s fault.’
‘Will you stop referring to her as “bloody Catherine”. This family are very fond of her.’
‘You don’t know that,’ Jess said, rubbing her left temple and wincing.
‘The families are close, though, and don’t forget her dad is Ed’s godfather. So don’t go on about her unless we’re by ourselves somewhere, OK?’
Without waiting for an answer, Izzy knocked on the door to the room she hoped was the right one where they were all meeting for their pre-dinner drinks.
It was.
The brothers welcomed them both with kisses, as did the parents and introduced them to a new man they hadn’t met before. Stefan wasn’t as tall as Ed or his brothers, but he was very blond and had a twinkle in his eye. Roman explained that Stefan would be the one in charge of the boat and would be instructing them when sailing.
‘Sometimes I have to deliver boats to new owners, but this one is a friend’s’ he explained. ‘He said he didn’t mind if I made a holiday of the trip with some friends.’
‘You’re very lucky being able to sail as part of your job,’ Jess said.
He pulled a doubtful expression in her direction. ‘Not always. You will have to forgive me on the first day because I am always very seasick for the first eight hours of any trip.’
Recalling the ferry journey this morning, Izzy couldn’t understand why he would want to sail if he had to go through that hell each time, and said so, making a mental note to buy seasickness medicine the first opportunity she got.
He shrugged a shoulder. ‘I love the sea and sailing, and I refuse to let it get the better of me. It’s not too bad and I know it will pass.’
The two other new members of the group were very slim, long-haired women. ‘Nicolle and Loulou,’ Roman said, as the girls smiled perfect smiles to their English counterparts. Izzy and Jess smiled at the blonde girl with the shiny hair and dark crimson lipstick. She looked so chic in her navy Capri trousers and red cotton top, a red silk polka dot scarf tied around her neck.
‘Ed?’ the one they thought must be Nicolle asked, taking hold of his arm and leading him over to the cocktail cabinet at the end of the room. She was murmuring something to him and a pang of jealousy pierced Izzy.
‘Blimey, talk about chic,’ Jess whispered when they sat down next to each other, both trying not to stare at Nicolle.
‘Bonjour,’ Loulou said, coming over to speak to them with her arm linked through Roman’s.
‘Hi,’ Izzy said, waiting for Jess to speak.
‘Great to meet you,’ Jess said finally. ‘I think this is going to be a great trip.’
‘We will have much fun, non?’ She looked up through long black lashes to Xavier and Izzy could tell he was smitten.
‘We will,’ Izzy said, nudging Jess who then nodded in reluctant agreement.
Izzy could see Jess was a little out of her comfort zone, probably because she was feeling the same way. How did these girls get to be so slender, she wondered; did they survive on fresh air? She and Jess weren’t exactly overweight, but they would never be as svelte as these two.
Jess rubbed her temple and grimaced. The Countess noticed and jerked her head to Xavier. ‘She is ill?’
‘Jess has a headache,’ Izzy explained. ‘J’ai mal à la tête.’
She looked concerned. ‘Medicine?’ She held her index and thumb two centimetres apart.
Jess didn’t answer.
‘Do you want a pill, Jess?’ Izzy said.
Jess smiled. ‘Oui, merci.’
The Countess left the room.
‘How embarrassing,’ Jess said. ‘I didn’t mean for everyone to notice.’
They heard the Countess speaking rapidly to someone in the hallway, she soon returned holding what looked like a cross between a large pill and a small tampon and handed it to Jess.
‘You will need help with the, err, pill?’ she asked.
Jess shook her head. ‘Non, merci.’
The others in the group laughed. Jess and Izzy exchanged confused glances. ‘What’s so amusing?’ Jess asked, annoyed. ‘Why would I need help taking a pill?’
Ed leaned slightly towards them. ‘They’re amused because the pill is not one you swallow.’
‘How do I take it then?’ Jess asked starring at the object in the palm of her hand. The others waited a few seconds while Jess worked it out. Then mouth dropping open, she almost dropped it. Her eyes widened. ‘I have to …?’
Izzy nodded. Jess looked mortified at the prospect.
Laughing, the group turned away and began chatting about their trip.
Jess grabbed Izzy’s arm. ‘Iz, I’m supposed to stick this up my bum?’
Izzy nodded. ‘I think it’s gets into your system quicker that way.’
‘But the Countess offered to help me.’
Izzy giggled, unable to help herself. Jess looked horrified at this prospect.
‘People in France take suppositories as a matter of course,’ Ed said, not in the slightest bit embarrassed to be discussing the subject. ‘They, that is we, think the Brits are a little odd for having such a problem with the concept, it really is very simple. Maman knows you might find this strange, which is why she offered to help you insert it.’
Jess frowned. ‘Her offering to help me was what weirded me out,’ she snapped.
‘Jess, that’s so rude.’ Izzy glared at her.
Ed laughed. ‘I think we all realized that, but don’t worry, you’ll be fine if you just do it without over-thinking.’
Jess stared at the suppository. ‘I think I’ve changed my mind, this headache isn’t too unbearable.’
‘Wuss,’ Izzy teased. ‘Go on, you’ll be fine.’
‘That’s easy to say when it’s not you having to do it.’
Izzy had to agree, but didn’t let Jess know how she really thought. The headache had been troubling her for hours. ‘Go now and do it, while everyone is chatting and won’t notice you’ve gone.’
Jess looked unimpressed. She finished her drink and quietly slipped out of the room.
Ed walked over and sat in Jess’s chair next to Izzy. ‘I forget how British people react to suppositories,’ he laughed. ‘Poor thing, do you think she’ll take it?’
Izzy shrugged. ‘I hope so, if it means she shifts that headache. It was making her miserable. Would your mother really have done it for her?’
He shrugged, ‘Of course. She wouldn’t have been bothered in the slightest.’
Izzy could never understand how, living so close to France, with so much of the French influence throughout the history of Jersey, how the locals seemed so very different to their French counterparts.
‘I enjoyed our race today,’ he said.
Izzy was glad he was changing the subject. ‘It was great fun.’
‘We’ll have time to go out again in the morning, if we get up early. The grounds are beautiful just after sunrise with the mist covering the lower meadow.’
She loved the idea and said so. ‘Will you wake me, just to make sure I don’t oversleep?’
‘Of course.’ He looked up as Jess came ba
ck to join them. ‘Five thirty OK for you?’
‘Perfect,’ Izzy replied.
He got up to let Jess take her seat. ‘Everything OK?’
She beamed at him. ‘If it works as well as I’m hoping then yes.’ She waited for Ed to walk away and join the others and leaned over to Izzy. ‘That was actually far easier than I’d expected.’
Izzy sighed. ‘Good. I suppose you’ll need another drink now.’
‘Hell, yes.’
Izzy didn’t need to be woken by Ed in the end. She’d spent half the night dreaming that she was oversleeping, and so rose half an hour before he was due to wake her, and crept down to the bathroom to wash her face and clean her teeth. By the time he knocked quietly on her bedroom door she was dressed.
She pulled open the door. ‘Hi.’
He looked surprised to see her ready to leave. ‘I’ve saddled the horses and made us a coffee each. If you’re ready,’ he whispered, smiling at her, ‘we can get going now.’ He stood back to let her pass.
‘I’ll follow you,’ she said. ‘I still don’t know my way around this place.’
He began walking. ‘It is a bit of a labyrinth.’
‘You must miss being here very much,’ she whispered as they reached the back stairs and made their way down to the kitchen. ‘Did you come back to the château in the school holidays?’
‘Yes, most of the time, but my parents were very busy trying to make this place work then. They catered for groups of people holding weddings and big parties here on the lawns or in the ballroom in winter, so occasionally they asked my uncle to keep me with him.’
Izzy nearly missed her footing on the bottom step, but Ed quickly reached out to catch her. Once she was fully upright again, she said. ‘You have a ballroom?’
‘I know, it does sound a bit odd, but this place is five hundred years old, and it has been refigured a few times since then. When my father was growing up his parents used to hold many parties.’
‘Can you show it to me when we get back?’
‘If there’s time, but we’re going to have to push it if we’re to make breakfast at seven and we have to leave at eight to get to Marseille on time.’
Ed led them into the vast kitchen. She looked around the room, unable to see anything more modern than an old cooking range and four-ringed cooker that looked similar to the one her mother replaced ten years before.
‘It’s a bit antiquated,’ he said, handing her a cup of cooling coffee that was a bit strong for her taste. ‘But no one apart from family usually comes down here.
She took a sip, trying not to wince. ‘Those are amazing,’ she said, certain her mother would covet the shiny copper pans hanging from the ceiling.
‘My mother swears by them,’ he said. ‘although she doesn’t cook very often. Come on, we’d better get a move on.’
Chapter Six
Who was this girl and why hadn’t he met her before, Ed wondered as they hurried out across the quadrangle to the stables. Then again, Jersey might only be nine miles by five in size, but there were many inhabitants he had never met before. So many busy lives packed into a small island. Smiling, he took her hand and ran with her across the quadrangle lawn. ‘Wait there, I’ll get Gaston for you,’ he said when they reached the archway to the stables.
He led her horse out of its stable and took hold of Izzy’s shin to give her a leg up. This time he made sure not to almost catapult her over the horse. He didn’t need to damage the poor girl with too much exuberance. Not that she wasn’t tough, he mused. She was willowy and tall, with wild blonde hair and a beautiful face, but it was her strength of character he was most attracted to. She had seemed very relaxed in front of his family, too, which was always comforting. It was a relief to meet someone who accepted his parents as they would anyone else’s. He pushed away the memories of previous girlfriends, some who had wanted to be seen with him simply because of who he was.
‘Are you all right?’ Izzy asked, bringing him back to the present again. ‘You look like you’re in another world.’
‘I’m probably not completely awake yet,’ he fibbed. ‘Come on, let’s get these two devils outside.’ He took his horse out of the stable and mounted. ‘OK?’ he asked.
She nodded, unable contain her excitement. ‘This is so much fun,’ she said. ‘Thank you for getting up early to take me out.’
He didn’t admit that it was he who should be thanking her, for it had been a joy to ride out with her the previous day and he was delighted with the unexpected bonus of spending time alone with her.
She nodded. ‘I’ve been so excited about it that I barely slept,’ she admitted.
They broke into a trot and soon they were out beyond the château lawns and cantering towards the meadow. ‘You’re right,’ Izzy shouted, indicating the misty view ahead. ‘It’s magical out here at this time in the morning.’
He didn’t want to go too fast yet, not until he was certain the mist was high enough for them to see exactly where they were going, so they kept to a gentle canter. He let her go slightly ahead of him to be able to give her a discreet look. She seemed so in charge.
‘Hey,’ Izzy shouted.
Ed looked up and noticed she was looking at him over her shoulder. She turned away to watch where she was going, not slowing down.
‘You should be concentrating on where you’re going, not my backside,’ she teased.
Laughing, he urged his horse on to catch up with her, not bothering to admit that he’d been daydreaming. ‘Sorry, I forgot myself.’
‘Don’t worry, I don’t mind. Not this time, anyway.’ She smiled at him and he was relieved to see she was amused rather than insulted.
They continued their gentle canter and he wished they had longer to stay out riding. As much as he had been looking forward to this trip, being out in the grounds of his favourite place with Izzy was more enjoyable.
‘Jess is still a bit miffed about Catherine joining us on this trip,’ Izzy said interrupting his thoughts. ‘I hope you don’t take offence if she goes on about it a bit.’
‘I’m not too happy she’s coming either,’ he said honestly. ‘Don’t worry about Jess’s reaction though, I understand her feelings towards Catherine, especially after the way she’s let you two down.’ Catherine’s selfish behaviour often infuriated him, and he wondered when she’d start thinking before acting. Probably never.
‘It’s a shame the other two who were originally supposed to join us had to pull out at the last moment,’ he said, not wishing the girls to be angry with his brothers. ‘I’d have been happy for the group to stay as it was, to be honest, but I think once everyone gets used to each other, they’ll all get on well. Catherine might be spoilt but she can be good fun.’
‘I don’t know her well enough to have seen her fun side yet,’ Izzy said, waving away a bumble bee. ‘A part of me feels a bit guilty for going on this trip and not staying behind to try and drum up business, but when we did try we couldn’t find any bookings.’
‘I really am sorry about the cancelled wedding party,’ he said for his friend’s part in their problems. ‘I’m sure she’d be devastated to discover how badly it’s affected you both.’
Izzy pulled a face. ‘It’s not your fault she eloped. It’s our stupid fault for not making sure she signed our contract and was liable for a cancellation fee. We’ll never do that again.’
‘I’ll do anything I can to help you, you know,’ he said, wishing he could think of some way to help them resolve their financial problems. ‘You only have to ask.’
‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘but I’m sure we’ll work it out somehow.’
Beau was getting fretful. He’d come this way too many times not to be aware that the meadow was the perfect place for a gallop. Ed studied the mist ahead of them, deciding that it seemed clear enough to let the horses go. Gaston, sensing Beau’s excitement, began a little impatient dance, bucking and rearing.
‘I think we’d better let these two get some of their energy
out of their system,’ he said. ‘What do you say?’
‘Oh yes!’
Soothed by the joy in her face, he nodded. ‘What are we waiting for then?’ Without waiting for her to reply, he squeezed his heels against his horse’s flanks, ready for the surge forward as it took off. He heard Izzy scream in delight behind him and laughed. She really was the most gorgeous woman he’d ever spent time with.
They loosened their reins, and Ed allowed Beau to go ahead of Gaston, relishing the warm morning air as they raced across the grass.
‘I’m not kissing you if you beat me this time,’ she called.
He laughed. The horses began to tire as they reached the copse and slowed down to a canter and then to a slow trot. Ed stroked Beau’s muscular neck. ‘Good boy,’ he soothed. He was going to miss this when he went back to Jersey. Despite there being a big riding fraternity in the island, he preferred not to compete, and in Jersey there wasn’t the space to ride over fields without having to think about crossing roads, as he could here in France.
Izzy caught up to him, breathing hard, partially from exertion and party from excitement of the gallop, he assumed. ‘That was brilliant,’ she said, giving him a wide grin. ‘I think we should forget the sailing trip and stay here.’
He knew she was only joking, but Ed wished they really could do such a thing. ‘Just you, me, and the horses.’
She sighed. ‘Yes.’ Then turning her head to look at him as she stroked Gaston’s sweaty neck, she added. ‘Wouldn’t that be bliss?’
He nodded. She had no idea how much he was tempted to do just as she’d suggested. He sat in silence next to her as their horses walked lazily towards the side of the meadow.
The Jersey Scene series box set Page 70