The Wind Off the Sea by Charlotte Bingham

Author:Charlotte Bingham
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Transworld

Chapter Ten

At last Dauncy was home. Summer was nearly gone, but as far as Loopy was concerned it began all over again on the return of her youngest son.

‘My,’ she sighed, after she had hugged him welcome and stood back to appraise her boy. ‘My oh my, but I dare swear you have grown.’

‘I am nearly nineteen, Mother!’ Dauncy laughed, able now to put down his hand luggage. ‘I stopped growing years ago. Hey – I have missed this place.’

‘You sound quite American.’

‘That cannot be altogether surprising – seeing I spent most of the summer there.’

‘I hope it wasn’t as unbearably hot as the summer here. I thought we should all melt.’

Dauncy was as delighted to be reunited with his family as they were to have him back home. Being the youngest he had always had a special place in all their hearts as each of them considered he needed their protection. As a consequence, rather than being spoiled, which could so easily have been the case, despite the war and all its sorrows the youngest Tate grew up emotionally secure and confident, the most perfectly adjusted of the three boys. In fact, he was sufficiently self-assured to be immediately attractive to everyone. Whereas Walter was still the homecoming hero, and John the business success, young Dauncy now found his own fame as the most sportif and the most personable of the three Tate boys. So much so that he had barely been home for twenty-four hours when the invitations began arriving for him to go sailing, to play tennis, to grace cocktail parties and dances with his presence.

Naturally Dauncy allowed himself to be fêted, while privately confiding to his mother that, after his hectic time in America, he would really rather prefer just to relax with family, play a bit of tennis and golf but most of all take Dingy, the family’s ancient but speedy little sailing boat, out whenever possible. The very first day he sailed Dingy out into the estuary he was immediately noticed, and then watched, by a man in a garden on the north shore, a man much taken to watching events unfold in the little fishing port opposite which he now lived. Perhaps if he had realised this Dauncy would have felt uneasy, but as it was he merely set sail with a carefree heart and a determination to enjoy his precious time at home.

The man watching him was of course Waldo, and he too was happy. He was happy with his new house, with Rusty’s care of it, and in particular with the restoration work that Peter Sykes and two friends were carrying out in their spare time. Far from being irreparable, the roof, as Peter had forecast, had been easily fixed, so that all that now remained to be done was the redecoration and the furnishing. Of course, once Peter had finished the initial repairs, Waldo had further plans for the house, but being all too aware of the rumours that were

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