8

Uncle Giles was tall with a craggy face, twinkling blue eyes, a shock of white hair and full of charm.

‘Ah, Amelia. I am so happy to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you,’ he said with enthusiasm. ‘You’ve certainly kept my nephew entertained.’

Amelia thought she caught a flash of amusement in his expression as he glanced Jules’s way, which disconcerted her. Had they been laughing about her being so clueless, not knowing that tortoises hibernated and the two mice lodging with her were not the same sex? She supposed it had its amusing side.

But Jules dismissed her fear or possibly was hoping to make up for his tell-tale stories, by saying, ‘Amelia’s the marvellous woman who is animal-sitting many of the pets in the district while their owners are away for Christmas.’

Giles beamed at her. ‘That is an undertaking. I’m sure Jules will help you out with anything that might concern you about them. At least they won’t be suffering from hangovers,’ he joked as someone refilled his glass.

‘Though, by rights, we should have them here,’ Giles went on, ‘as after all, Jules is responsible for people being unable to leave their pets at the place they’ve always used. Though I’d say he probably saved their lives, and certainly their sanity, by closing it down. I feel sorry for Jim and Dodi, they’ve been there for years, but his memory’s going, poor fellow and I’m afraid Dodi was in denial. I hadn’t seen them about for a while. I should have checked up on them, but after Jules saw them…’ He sighed and stared into the distance a moment, obviously thinking of them. ‘Well, he had to do what he did, no matter what people say.’

Amelia remembered Isla’s earlier outrage in the church.

Leonora, Giles’s lady friend chipped in. ‘None of it was helped by Les, the old vet, who Jules is now standing in for. He too is sadly well past it, and anyway, I heard he is now recuperating from a nasty fall.’

‘It can be hard to admit the time has come to retire,’ Giles said.

Another woman joined in the discussion, earnestly engaging Giles in some local matter, and Amelia was relieved when Dickon, hovering beside her, asked if she could come now and see his gecko.

He led her through the throng of people into a passage that led into a large kitchen, where a huge cooked turkey and all the trimmings were being arranged on a large dish. Dickon addressed the two women getting the food ready.

‘I’m just showing Amelia Luna,’ he said, darting through the kitchen into a small room beside it.

‘Well, don’t you bring him in here, Dickon,’ one of the women remarked, ‘we don’t want him gnawing at the bird.’

‘He doesn’t eat bird meat, only insects and things,’ Dickon told her. He turned to check that Amelia was behind him. ‘He’s in here, we keep the room quite warm for him. We can take him out after lunch if you want, then you can see him properly.’

‘Perhaps another time when your house is not so full of people.’ Amelia was not sure she wanted to get too close and personal with this little reptile.

She followed him into a small room which looked out on to a walled garden. Besides a couple of comfy, well-used armchairs, there was a large glass cage standing on a box. Dickon went over to it saying, ‘Hi, Luna, this is my new friend Amelia. Come say hello.’

Amelia peered in and saw a small brown and cream mottled reptile in the corner of the cage. It was so still it was almost like a statue. Dickon opened the cage and picked him up almost thrusting him into her hand, but she took a step back, her hand up as if to shield herself from it leaping at her. She said cautiously, ‘He looks quite sleepy, better leave him for now.’

To her relief she heard Jules calling for Dickon, then praising the women in the kitchen for the magnificent turkey. He came into the room. ‘Don’t kidnap Amelia, Dickon,’ he said with a laugh. ‘I want her to meet some of the people here. I expect she’s had enough animals for now. Her house is full of them.’

Seeing the disappointment in Dickon’s face, Amelia said, ‘I’ve never seen a gecko before. He’s fascinating and so pretty. His name is interesting, Dickon, why did you choose that?’

‘I thought he might live on the moon,’ Dickon explained.

‘Ah, yes, I see what you mean,’ Amelia agreed.

‘Put him back in his house, Dickon, we are about to have lunch.’ Jules turned to her. ‘I’ll introduce you to some people in the living room and then Dickon and I will help take the lunch in.’

Almost before he’d finished his sentence, Cynthia joined them. ‘Oh, there you are, Jules,’ she said, standing close to him, as if she was guarding him.

‘Yes, we’re about to serve up lunch,’ Jules said cheerfully. ‘Give us a few minutes but take Amelia with you and introduce her to people.’ He told Dickon, again, to put Luna back in his cage, wash his hands and come and help him take in the lunch to the dining room.

Cynthia walked quickly down the passage, not waiting for Amelia to follow. They reached the living room together.

‘Don’t you know anyone here?’ Cynthia asked her pityingly.

‘I haven’t really looked to see. Dickon took me to see Luna before I had much time to meet many people.’ Amelia wished she could have stayed in the kitchen with Dickon and Jules and those cheerful ladies. She followed Cynthia into the room with its throng of people.

To her relief Giles saw her and came over. ‘Now come and meet everyone,’ he said, taking her arm and leading her round the room. People smiled and welcomed her in a sea of names and faces she hoped she would remember.

Dickon appeared, sent to tell everyone that lunch was ready, and they streamed into the dining room. He found Amelia her place and she sat down at the huge oval table with its pristine white cloth with blue and gold crackers arranged in the middle round an arrangement of holly and orange satsumas. The silver knives and forks glinted under the light of two sparkling chandeliers wreathed in gold streamers. She felt she was in a room of another age, which was probably true, as it belonged to Giles, who must at least be in his eighties.

She was sitting next to a cheerful, blond-haired man called David Wheeler, and on her other side was Leonora, Giles’s present lady friend.

Leonora wanted to know everything about her, almost as if she was interviewing her for a job or was possibly testing to see if she might have designs on Giles, even though he was old enough to be her father, or even her grandfather.

‘Not much to know, really,’ Amelia said. ‘I have two daughters, Grania and Sophie. One staying with her fiancé’s family in Cornwall, the other travelling in India. I’m a widow. My husband died three years ago.’

‘That’s sad, I’m sorry. I’m a widow too, but you won’t catch me marrying again. Been there, done that, as they say. I found being a wife far too constricting,’ Leonora added with a wink. ‘I like men, don’t think I don’t, but I’m not keen on being bossed about, which husbands are apt to do. Once they’ve got you, they seem to think they own you. Lovers are far more exciting. If you get bored of one, there’s always another one coming around the corner, like buses.’ She laughed. ‘I see you are shocked, but there is safety in numbers.’

Amelia would have given anything to have Esmond back with her again and Leonora seemed to guess this. She put her hand over hers. ‘You might have been very lucky with your husband, Amelia, but I am not keen on being treated like “the little woman”,’ her voice went sneery, ‘whose only point seems to be bed and kitchen.’

‘My marriage wasn’t at all like that. I miss him dreadfully.’ Amelia suddenly wished she was back at home with all the animals.