The Runaway Visitors (18 page)

‘Well, I wouldn't say run away, that's a bit dramatic. ’

‘But it’s just what he has done! How exciting!’

‘It isn’t exciting, it’s just troublesome. Now we shall worry about him, even if he does ring up, until he gets back to England. God, I wish I’d never left England . . .’ but even as she said it, she realised that it wasn’t quite true. She would perhaps never have met Charles again if she had stayed in England.

Sebastien was very much missed. He was astringent and often provocative; he had the ability to make them laugh, and always debunked anything phony or pompous. First, Giorgio had been taken away from them. Now Sebastien had taken himself away. Amanda was very quiet. Victoria suggested drives in the car, lunching in Firenze, coffees in the interesting squares, but Amanda did not want to do any of them. She said it was too hot down in Firenze, she couldn’t stand the heat, it made her quickly tired. She preferred to stay here on their terrace, working away under the shade of the big umbrella on the bird embroidery, which was already emerging as a wall hanging of striking charm and originality. She answered when she was spoken to, but scarcely volunteered a remark to anybody; yet her silence was no longer a sulky and unfriendly silence. Victoria thought she had her head in the clouds, and was probably dreaming of Giorgio all the time she plied her needle and selected her brilliantly coloured threads.

In fact, Victoria was not worrying about Amanda. It was the absent Sebastien who occupied her thoughts. She was angry because he had not rung up to say where he was, and although Miss Jameson pointed out that he was probably nowhere near a telephone, Victoria would not accept this excuse. He could make it his business to find a telephone. No, the plain fact of the matter was that Sebastien was embarked on an adventure, had set himself a target and, having told Victoria not to worry, placidly assumed she would not. She began to wonder whether she should let her parents know of this escapade. If she did not, and something went wrong, they would think she was much to blame. But if she
did,
she might be causing them worry unnecessarily. She was still undecided when Giuseppe Orselli rang up two mornings after the arrival of Sebastien’s letter to invite Victoria to lunch; and when Victoria explained that she did not want to leave her sister, he invited Amanda too, saying he would be delighted if both would accept.

Amanda, informed of the invitation, said she did not want to go.

‘It’s perfectly obvious that it’s you he wants to see,’ she said. ‘But you’ll enjoy it, Amanda, and it will do you good to get out.’

‘I just don’t want to go, I’d rather stay here.’

‘But I don’t want to leave you here by yourself. Do come. ’

‘I won’t be by myself. Miss Jameson will be here. And anyway, I want to get on with my birds.’

‘Then I don’t think I shall go either.’

‘Oh, don’t be an idiot, Vicki. You’ll just make me feel guilty if
you
don’t go. And I won’t find it much fun, playing gooseberry.’ In the end, Victoria went without her. She left not long after breakfast, intending to do some shopping in Firenze, and to go to the market where so much leathercraft and handwork was sold, before meeting Giuseppe. She met him shortly before one o’clock and it was obvious that he intended to keep her as long as possible; for they spent over half an hour on their prelunch drinks, he selected the items from the menu in a very leisurely fashion, and dawdled throughout the luncheon and the coffee afterwards. Then he insisted on taking Victoria to buy flowers and a large box of confectionery to take back for Amanda, and was most reluctant to see Victoria to her car and allow her to drive away from him.

Victoria had enjoyed this break from routine. She drove up the winding ascent towards Fiesole feeling lighter-hearted than for several days past, turned off on to the side road for Charles’s house, came to his gate and ran the car under the carport.

She went straight to the guest terrace, expecting to see Amanda there, probably still bent over her work; but the terrace was empty. Perhaps the studio, then, Victoria thought, for they had both discovered that Charles’s studio remained cool and was a very pleasant place in which to relax. There was no sign of Amanda, so Victoria decided she had probably gone for a walk and that her lovely flowers had better be put into water right away. She went to the kitchen to find a suitable vase.

Miss Jameson was in a rocking chair outside the kitchen door in cool shade, knitting an unidentifiable garment in rich purple.

‘Do you know where Amanda went, Miss Jameson?’ asked Victoria.

‘She went out to lunch with you, didn’t she?’

‘No, she didn’t want to go. She preferred to stay here.’

‘Well, she didn’t have her lunch here, that's for sure. There’s been nobody here all day. I thought you went out together. ’

‘Haven’t you seen her all day, Miss Jameson?’

‘Not since breakfast.’

Victoria stared at Miss Jameson. She was beginning to be alarmed.

‘Well, she can’t be far away, without transport . . .’

‘I suppose not.’

‘She probably went for a walk. ’

‘And not come back for lunch?’ asked Miss Jameson. There was a slightly uncomfortable pause.

‘Of course she could always get a taxi if she wanted to go anywhere,’ added Miss Jameson.

‘But she didn’t want to go anywhere, she kept saying so.’

‘Or, of course, she could hitch-hike.’

‘Oh, God, I shouldn’t like that,’ cried Victoria, immediately distressed.

‘No more should I. But you’ll probably find that she’s round the place somewhere. Don’t go alarming yourself without any cause. Have you looked in the fountain garden?’

‘No, not yet.'

‘And she might just be strolling on the hills above the house. Because, if she wasn’t going to stay here, why didn’t she go with you?’

Victoria looked at Miss Jameson sombrely.

‘I can think of one good reason,’ she said. ‘If she didn’t want me to know she was going out. Or
where
she was going.’

‘Now look here,’ said Miss Jameson. ‘You just go and look for the girl before you make up your mind you’ve got more trouble. Just because Sebastien took himself off is no reason for thinking Amanda’s done the same sort of thing.’

‘It’s Sebastien who’s responsible for this,’ Victoria said with a strange fatalism. ‘It’s Sebastien who put the idea into Amanda’s head. She was so excited, in an odd sort of way, when she heard about him: she thought it was thrilling that he had run away. And I bet that’s just what Amanda has done too.’

‘What a family!’ exclaimed Miss Jameson. ‘Are they in the habit of doing this sort of thing? Have they done it before?’

‘No. Never.’ Victoria’s sombre look was still on her face as she said: ‘Mind you, there have been times when I’ve felt like doing it myself, when I’ve been posted off to Aunt Catherine who didn’t really want us; but I’ve always had a younger brother and sister to consider. But that’s by the way. I’d better scout round looking for Amanda.’

No amount of scouting round, however, discovered Amanda. She was not to be found strolling on the hills. She was not at the house of the Rimini girls, nor had she been to the Beltonis’ farm for some time. Then Victoria found that she had taken a coat from her wardrobe, which she would certainly not need during the daytime, and that a small overnight bag was also missing, as well as her ordinary handbag. She imparted this news to Miss Jameson in the kitchen.

‘So she’s taken herself off somewhere,’ said Victoria, ‘but where the devil can she have gone?’ She brooded over the question for a while. ‘I suppose she’s run off to see Giorgio,’ she concluded at last.

‘Giorgio? Giorgio Beltoni? But why should she do that?’

‘She thinks she’s in love with him.’

‘Well, even so. Couldn’t she have asked you to drive her there?’

‘You don’t know Amanda. That wouldn’t be nearly as romantic,’ said Victoria wearily, ‘and she might have thought that I’d refuse.’

‘She won’t find it so romantic once she gets started,’ said Miss Jameson.

‘What can I
do
? Wherever can she be? Suppose she did start to go to see Giorgio, I don’t even know how she would go about it. Sebastien has a certain amount of sense. Amanda has precious little. I can’t bear to think that she would hitch-hike, that she would get into somebody’s car for quite a long journey; and it’s already getting dusk now . . .’

‘Now don’t panic, Victoria. Did she have money of her own?’ ‘Yes, she gets her regular allowance, and there’s nothing much to spend it on here. She’s not short of money.’

‘Then why can’t she go by train from Firenze in a perfectly normal manner?’

‘Because Amanda doesn’t do things in a perfectly normal manner. She might, of course. In which case, would she be at the hospital yet?’

‘Yes, I think so. It wouldn’t take that long.’

‘Then we can ring up the hospital and find out if somebody has seen Giorgio or tried to see him?’

‘Well, we’ll do that, but first of all, I’m going to make a call to Paris. Mr. Duncan had better know about this. ’

So both calls were made. Nobody resembling the description they gave of Amanda had called to see Giorgio. The second call, to Paris, was less productive, for Charles was not at his hotel, either then or an hour later when the call was repeated and Amanda had still not returned.

By now, Victoria was imagining all kinds of horrors. ‘It’s quite a different thing,’ she said to Miss Jameson, ‘for Amanda to do this. Sebastien I don’t worry about so much; but for Amanda to hitch-hike—oh, God, who knows
what
might happen to her?’ And no amount of attempted consolation on the part of Miss Jameson could allay her fears.

‘Do you think we should inform the police?’ Victoria asked anxiously.

‘I don’t know. It might be a bit soon. For all we know, Amanda might come walking in at any moment, and laugh at us for the things we’re imagining.’

‘I could kill her for this,’ said Victoria grimly. ‘At least, Sebastien rang us up to stop us worrying, and then wrote a letter

‘Perhaps Amanda will do the same. ’

Miss Jameson was preparing a supper, although she wondered if either Victoria or herself would feel like eating it when it was ready; so that when the telephone bell rang from the hall, she said to Victoria:

‘There you are! That’s probably Amanda now. You’d better go and answer it,’ and Victoria flew into the hall and snatched at the receiver.

It was not Amanda, however. It was Charles.

‘Victoria?’ he asked. ‘Now what’s all this? An urgent message to ring up the house. Have we been robbed? Are we on fire?’

‘Oh, Charles,’ she said, ‘Charles,’ and the despair in her voice must have reached him across the miles, for he said at once:

‘Now steady on, Victoria. What’s the matter? What’s happened?’

‘Oh, Charles, we think Amanda has run away. Well, Sebastien went first, and we were worried about him. Only we’re
much
more worried about Amanda, because she’s not very sensible ...’ Her voice trailed away because she had a feeling she herself was not making much sense.

‘Now take it slowly, Victoria. Are you telling me they’ve both run away?

‘ Well, not really. At least—yes, they’ve both gone, only Sebastien’s wasn’t so much running away as a well-thought-out campaign. And Amanda has only gone to-day, and we’re not quite sure that she
has
run away; but she’s taken her coat and her money and an overnight bag . . . And I’m so dreadfully afraid she may hitch-hike and perhaps meet with somebody unpleasant. And I do wonder whether I ought to inform the police. And honestly, I’m so terribly worried ...’

‘They didn’t go together, then?’

‘No. Separately. I think Sebastien put the idea into Amanda’s head.’

‘Is Miss Jameson there, Victoria?’

‘Yes.’

‘Then let me speak to her, will you?’

‘Hold on, then. I suppose I haven’t been very coherent, have

I?’

‘Don’t worry about that. Get me Miss Jameson.’ Victoria hurried to the kitchen, and Miss Jameson went to speak to her employer. At the end of the call, she turned to Victoria.

‘Mr. Duncan is getting in touch with the police here. He’ll carry more weight with them than I would. And he’s coming back by the first available plane and should be here by the morning. I don’t think there’s anything we can do here, Victoria, except hope that Amanda will turn up. ’

But this did not satisfy Victoria. She felt that she must be doing something. She would not eat supper, and she knew that she would not sleep. She walked about the house and the terraces; she started at every unfamiliar sound, and at the sound of a car on the road she rushed out to meet it, only to see it sweep past Charles’s gate, along the road to the farm.

‘I can’t settle,’ she told Miss Jameson. ‘I’m going to drive along the road—there’s just a chance that I might find her.’

‘None at all. I should say.’

‘I’m going, all the same. She
could
be trudging along, tired out, so the sight of me would be a godsend. ’