On Her Majesty's Frightfully Secret Service by Rhys Bowen

Author:Rhys Bowen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Berkley
Published: 2017-08-01T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

MONDAY, APRIL 22

AT VILLA FIORI WITH THINGS BECOMING MORE COMPLICATED BY THE MINUTE!

I waited a long moment, just in case they had forgotten something and came back for it, then I extricated myself from my yoga position under the table and stretched out my limbs. The air in the room was still hazy with smoke. I would have found it hard to breathe even in the purest of air. What I had overheard had completely shaken me. And the fact that the Prince of Wales seemed to be a willing participant unnerved me even more. Surely an alliance with Hitler’s Germany could never be a good thing, could it? From what we had heard his Brownshirts behaved like bullies and thugs. And Mussolini? He was a dictator, after all, and all dictators I knew about had come to bad ends.

I was dying to tell Darcy what I had learned and decided to risk my own stroll about the gardens in case I could find him alone. I hadn’t realized how big the grounds were. There were so many different sections, separated by stands of trees or high hedges. I saw two gardeners working in the kitchen garden, but they were both stocky Italian men. However, I decided they might know where Darcy was working. I went up to them and with lots of arm waving I asked where the English gardener was working.

At first they stared at me as if I was a madwoman, then they understood and nodded. “Ah. L’inglese.” Then they shrugged as if it was no concern of theirs where he might be. Then one of them curled a lip in contempt and muttered something. The other agreed. As I left them I thought I understood what they had said: He works too much, or too hard. They didn’t like him because he showed them up. I had to smile, the first smile I had permitted myself all day.

I continued on, away from the formal lawns, to where the ground rose in a parkland of tall trees and flowering rhododendron bushes. Suddenly a cold wind swept through the trees, sending branches rustling and rattling. I looked around me, feeling alert and alone. Had I been followed? I forced myself not to break into a run as I made my way back to the more cultivated part of the gardens. When I came out onto the lawns I stood and gave a sigh of relief. Silly, I said to myself. Nobody knew I’d been under the table and had overheard. I was quite safe.

Perhaps Darcy was not working at this moment but in his cottage. I turned toward the far side of the grounds and came upon the row of stone cottages with red-tiled roofs, each cottage no bigger than our horses’ stable. However opulent the villa was, the hired hands certainly didn’t live in luxury. Poor Darcy, I thought, then I realized that he probably didn’t mind. He enjoyed adventure. I stood looking at the front doors, wondering which one housed Darcy.

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