fortune in mascara.
The effect of the black dress was a little stark. Karen remembered that she ’d brought one of her favourite pieces of jewellery: an intricate Celtic knot in silver with a serpentine centre which one of her ex-boyfriends had made for her in his final year of studying jewellery design. She slipped the leather cord over her head and admired the unusual green stone in the centre. It contrasted well with the black of her dress and the creamy whiteness of her skin. With a shiver she remembered his somewhat unusual tastes in the bedroom, with a lot of leather ties involved. But his body was astonishing, completely decorated with intricate Celtic tribal tattoos.
Karen settled Humphrey down in the kitchen in his spanking clean bed next to the Aga and left him a giant dog chew to compensate for his lonely evening. She remembered that she hadn’t brought her smart long winter coat and that her old ski-jacket did not look terribly good over a dress, in point of fact it looked quite disgusting. Then she remembered that she still had Adam’s peacoat. It was a bit naughty to wear it out without asking but he had loaned it to her and he wasn’t around to ask.
She still found herself looking over at his house each evening and again at bedtime but she ’d seen no lights nor any signs of life. She wondered why he hadn’t told her he was going away. He’d been quite clear about his intentions that afternoon, or so she had thought. Perhaps she’d misread the signals and he really was merely being neighbourly for her grandmother’s sake. It wouldn’t be the first time that he’d led her on and then dumped her. It heightened her resolve to guard against his charms.
With a final goodbye to Humphrey, Karen made for the garage. Gran ’s yellow mini was a joy to drive and Karen climbed in feeling that the evening might not be so bad after all. She backed out of the narrow drive and stopped at the top to close the gates. Still no sign of life at Adam’s house. The Pengellys, however, were taking advantage of the windless evening to make a large smelly bonfire. Karen wondered if it was legal to burn plastic, it was certainly one way to prevent the seagulls from getting the rubbish! She waved in their direction and headed for Marazion.
It was a fine clear night and the sky was full of stars. Karen found she was becoming quite attached to country life, where she lived in London it was so light at night that she could seldom see the stars. It made her long to do a painting of the night with a gleaming moon, thousands of stars and the outline of the Marazion palms against the horizon. The castle on St Michaels Mount stood out darkly against the sky as she came over the top of the hill and she thought how, as a little girl, it had always seemed to her an enchanted place.
Parking was always a problem in the narrow streets of the little village of Marazion. But eventually, after much driving up and down narrow alleys, Karen was able to squeeze the mini into a tiny space. Thank goodness Gran didn’t drive one of those awful four-wheel drive all-terrain vehicles. The gallery had been converted from an old meeting-house. The granite facade was still fairly forbidding but once inside Karen stopped to admire the high ceilinged space. There was quite a crush of people handing in coats so while she waited in the queue she looked about for Nick. Just as she was handing her coat in, she felt a hand on her arm and turned around to face Nick.
“ Karen! Come and meet everyone,” he said taking her by the arm and guiding her through the throng of people to the far side of the gallery where a large group stood laughing and chatting animatedly in front of a large painting. Not standing on ceremony, Nick pulled her into the group, “Karen, this is my sister Penny and her charming daughter, my niece, Megan.”
Karen shook hands with a pleasant looking blond woman of about thirty and a tiny blond girl of about three.
“ Oh,
The effect of the black dress was a little stark. Karen remembered that she ’d brought one of her favourite pieces of jewellery: an intricate Celtic knot in silver with a serpentine centre which one of her ex-boyfriends had made for her in his final year of studying jewellery design. She slipped the leather cord over her head and admired the unusual green stone in the centre. It contrasted well with the black of her dress and the creamy whiteness of her skin. With a shiver she remembered his somewhat unusual tastes in the bedroom, with a lot of leather ties involved. But his body was astonishing, completely decorated with intricate Celtic tribal tattoos.
Karen settled Humphrey down in the kitchen in his spanking clean bed next to the Aga and left him a giant dog chew to compensate for his lonely evening. She remembered that she hadn’t brought her smart long winter coat and that her old ski-jacket did not look terribly good over a dress, in point of fact it looked quite disgusting. Then she remembered that she still had Adam’s peacoat. It was a bit naughty to wear it out without asking but he had loaned it to her and he wasn’t around to ask.
She still found herself looking over at his house each evening and again at bedtime but she ’d seen no lights nor any signs of life. She wondered why he hadn’t told her he was going away. He’d been quite clear about his intentions that afternoon, or so she had thought. Perhaps she’d misread the signals and he really was merely being neighbourly for her grandmother’s sake. It wouldn’t be the first time that he’d led her on and then dumped her. It heightened her resolve to guard against his charms.
With a final goodbye to Humphrey, Karen made for the garage. Gran ’s yellow mini was a joy to drive and Karen climbed in feeling that the evening might not be so bad after all. She backed out of the narrow drive and stopped at the top to close the gates. Still no sign of life at Adam’s house. The Pengellys, however, were taking advantage of the windless evening to make a large smelly bonfire. Karen wondered if it was legal to burn plastic, it was certainly one way to prevent the seagulls from getting the rubbish! She waved in their direction and headed for Marazion.
It was a fine clear night and the sky was full of stars. Karen found she was becoming quite attached to country life, where she lived in London it was so light at night that she could seldom see the stars. It made her long to do a painting of the night with a gleaming moon, thousands of stars and the outline of the Marazion palms against the horizon. The castle on St Michaels Mount stood out darkly against the sky as she came over the top of the hill and she thought how, as a little girl, it had always seemed to her an enchanted place.
Parking was always a problem in the narrow streets of the little village of Marazion. But eventually, after much driving up and down narrow alleys, Karen was able to squeeze the mini into a tiny space. Thank goodness Gran didn’t drive one of those awful four-wheel drive all-terrain vehicles. The gallery had been converted from an old meeting-house. The granite facade was still fairly forbidding but once inside Karen stopped to admire the high ceilinged space. There was quite a crush of people handing in coats so while she waited in the queue she looked about for Nick. Just as she was handing her coat in, she felt a hand on her arm and turned around to face Nick.
“ Karen! Come and meet everyone,” he said taking her by the arm and guiding her through the throng of people to the far side of the gallery where a large group stood laughing and chatting animatedly in front of a large painting. Not standing on ceremony, Nick pulled her into the group, “Karen, this is my sister Penny and her charming daughter, my niece, Megan.”
Karen shook hands with a pleasant looking blond woman of about thirty and a tiny blond girl of about three.
“ Oh,
Similar Books
