Page 73 of One More Christmas at the Castle
It was some time till he returned from taking the tea trolley to the sitting room.
‘Sabine told me her mother loved seed cake and the smell of it took her right back to her childhood, and Lucy wolfed down a slice so fast she choked and I had to pat her on the back. Or maybe,’ he added thoughtfully, ‘she choked in the hope I’d perform the Heimlich manoeuvre, but if so, she was out of luck.’
Sabine
‘As I said at the end of our last recording session, Sabine,’ Xan reminded me as I seated myself opposite him, ‘I feel we must just touch on the accident in which your father and stepmother were killed, which occurred not long after your marriage.’
‘If you feel it’sreallynecessary,’ I said reluctantly.
‘I’ll barely mention it in the book, of course, but it’s relevant because after it, you and Asa divided your time between your house on Corfu and Mitras Castle.’
‘Most of our time was spent on Corfu until after—’ I broke off, then continued, ‘until a few years later, when Asa gave up diving and began his land-based excavations.’
‘I know you began spending Christmas here then, and my grandparents usually came over for that – and any friends or colleagues who could make it. It sounded as if it was a continuation of the parties you had in Greece!’
‘They were, really. We often had a houseful, but it was all great fun,’ I agreed. ‘Asa was so gregarious and drew people to him like a magnet. And, of course, you could get the staff then, to cope with it all.’
‘Mrs Hill and her husband? They were here from my first visit as a small child.’
‘It was another married couple at first, but Mrs Hill stayed until they retired after Asa …’
I tailed off and sighed. ‘Maria has been with me many years, too, as you know – so lucky she fell for the handsome gardener when she came over here that time with her parents.’
‘It was, but we’re wandering off the point a bit,’ Xan said. ‘Though of course, you wouldn’t have spent Christmases at the Castle had that car accident not happened, would you?’
‘No. The breach with my father remained until his death and I felt the Castle was tainted by my stepmother’s presence. But after they were both killed, I could reclaim my home again.’
Xan hesitated and I knew he was about to broach a subject that was usually taboo.
‘Your half-sister, Faye, was then about fourteen, wasn’t she?’
I nodded, deciding to get this part over with as quickly as possible. ‘And at boarding school. She wasn’t left on my hands, but to the guardianship of the family solicitor – the uncle of my present one – and a relative of her mother’s. They thought it best that she didn’t attend the funeral. I hadn’t seen her for several years … and it was to be a few more before our paths crossed again.’
‘She didn’t spend any of the school holidays at the Castle?’
‘No, I made it clear the Castle was no longer her home and her guardians made other arrangements for her,’ I said indifferently.
‘Had Asa ever met her?’
‘No … he only did so when she was seventeen and had been expelled from boarding school for the second time.’
‘Expelled?’ Xan said in surprise. He obviously didn’t know that part.
‘Yes, she’d already had to leave one school before my fatherdied and the second time was for the same reason: sneaking out to meet men. She was always precocious – a born slut.’
I felt the old, bitter tide of hatred for my half-sister sweep through me.
Xan looked rather taken aback. ‘Isn’t that a bit harsh?’
‘I don’t think so. She was man-mad and we hadn’t then arrived at the hippy era, when it could be prettied up as Free Love.’
‘I suppose not,’ he agreed, though he was still looking troubled.
‘I don’t see the need to go any further into all that,’ I said firmly. ‘Once I’d returned to Corfu after the funeral, the car accident barely impinged on our happy life together, except that I could reclaim my home.’
I smiled, letting happier memories push back the darkness.
‘The late fifties and early sixties were the perfect time to be living in Greece and pushing the boundaries of underwater archaeology.’
