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A harsh laugh escaped the woman in the bed ‘You alere a sentimental idiot!’

A quiet knock on the door heralded the arrival of the vicar ‘Try and get soed Ophelia in an undertone

Ophelia nodded, bundled up the bedding and gave the vicar a welcoular visits and e of caustic complaints with forbearance

‘You’re wasting your ti a penny to that church of yours!’

Ophelia h she were rich when, in fact, she was up to her ears in debt Of course Gladys Steould never ad truth; she was obsessed withup of appearances Yet Madrigal Court, the moated Elizabethan manor that Gladys Stewart had persuaded her late husband to buy, was crulect the roof was leaking, darounds had returned to nature Letting the beautiful old house go to rack and ruin while refusing to sell it back to the Metaxis fae

Froardens of the Court Aled to Lysander Metaxis, the Greek shipping nate His father had been wealthy, but his son and heir had the Midas touch and he had billions to burn When it ca around cash nobody could do it better than Lysander Metaxis Every time a local property came on the market it was snapped up at a price no one else could o, the only stake the Metaxis faatehouse at the foot of the drive Now the Metaxis estate owned e

Madrigal Court was a little island of independence at the heart of a Metaxis-do—Lysander Metaxis would own the glorious old house as well There would be no stopping hirandmother did leave her a share of the Court, which was by no means certain, the sheer burden of unpaid bills and death duties would ensure that the house and gardens had to be sold as soon as possible Ophelia was hoping and praying that, when that time ca the walled garden for her continued use After all, it was a good distance from the house and enjoyed a separate entrance onto the road

Having put the bedding in the washing ton boots and sped outdoors She rarelythe day and was convinced that even twenty y levels In corounds, which she had found iarden was an oasis of beauty and order There, in carefully designed borders, she grew the rare perennials that she intended to h she already had a steady flow of local customers she wasn’t yet in a position to hire anyone to ith her

After half an hour of energetic digging, sheher boots, she padded into the ate stove installed in the nineteen twenties ensured a coround level of warmth and remained the most modern appliance in the room

‘Good afternoon, Ophelia,’ Haddock greeted her in the plummy tones at which he excelled

‘Afternoon, Haddock,’ Ophelia responded

‘Ti his perch

Ophelia took the hint and fetched a peanut to give the parrot She was hugely attached to him He was almost sixty years old

‘Lovely Haddock! Lovely Haddock!’ the bird opined

Knowing his need for affection, Ophelia smoothed his feathered head and cuddled him

Familiar footsteps sounded in the stone corridor Pamela Arnold, a woman in her late twenties with short red hair and lively brown eyes, strolled in ‘You definitely need a et up close and personal with’

‘No, thanks I’ either for, with the exception of her long-departed grandfather, the men in her life had always been a source of trouble, heartache and disillusion Once he had started a new faotten that Ophelia existed Her mother had dated men who’d cheated her out of money, beaten her up and betrayed her with other women And Ophelia’s first love had told lies about her that had led to her being horribly bullied at school

‘Oh, no…are you feeding us again?’ Ophelia groaned, e a casserole dish on the scrubbed pine table ‘I can’t let you keep on doing this—’

‘Why not? You’re run off your feet right now,’ Pah I don’t agree with the way you’re sacrificing you

rself, I need to help any way I can’

Ophelia raised a brow in disagree myself—’

‘Yes, you are, and you’re doing it for a rather unpleasant person But I’ll button my disrespectful lips and say no more’

‘My grandave me a home when I needed one She didn’t have to do either of those things’ Ophelia said nothing more because Gladys Stewart’s abrasivewoe out of poverty and defied the rigid British class systeround, Gladys had never been the type to turn the other cheek But ultimately it had taken only one severe disappointrim disposition beyond redeile mother, Cathy

Although it was more than thirty years since the day it had happened, the echoes of anger, bitterness, pain and humiliation had still contrived to leave an indelible led to keep an open mind, the people most hurt by that calamity had been those she’d loved and depended on Naturally her fa and bone-deep prejudice had had their effect on her as well The very name Metaxis had a silent onisenerous nature

As Ophelia iant yawn

As if he understood, Haddock whistled a stirring if tuneless rendering of a well-known lullaby

Momentarily transported back in ti nursery rhymes to her little sister at bedtile of dark curls upset Ophelia Although she’d been only eight years old when Molly had been born, she had looked after her because their ht years since Ophelia had seen her sister