Second Time Around by Marcia Willett Page B

you,’ said Isobel lightly. ‘Hello.’
    Tessa’s hand was warm in hers and the golden eyes looked anxious.
    â€˜I never knew her,’ she said. ‘Isn’t it terrible? I didn’t know about her, you see. And I’ve been down in Devon so much in the last couple of years. Oh, it’s such a waste!’
    â€˜Never mind.’ Isobel was taken aback at her intensity. ‘She didn’t know about you, either.’
    â€˜But she was family ,’ said Tessa sadly. ‘I wish I’d known her. And now it’s too late.’
    â€˜Yes.’ Isobel winced at the stab of pain which reminded her of her own loss. ‘I’m afraid it is.’
    â€˜Mrs Stangate will be able to tell you all about her.’ James’s voice was comforting. ‘She looked after her, you know.’

    â€˜Well, up to a point.’ Isobel looked at Tessa and felt curious. ‘Do you like the house?’
    â€˜I love it,’ said Tessa simply. ‘All of it. The house and the cove. It’s … Well, it’s magic, isn’t it?’
    â€˜It’s rather special,’ agreed Isobel. She was feeling confused. She had been prepared to dislike on sight these relatives who were to supplant Mathilda and turn the cove into a kind of holiday camp——but this girl wasn’t quite what she had envisaged.
    â€˜I want to live here,’ Tessa was telling her, ‘but I have to wait to see what the other beneficiaries want to do.’ Isobel looked at James who shrugged. ‘Perfectly true, I’m afraid. If they want to sell it’ll be two against one.’
    â€˜I can’t bear it.’ Tessa screwed up her eyes as though she might burst into tears but laughed instead. ‘Silly, isn’t it?’
    â€˜Love at first sight,’ said James sympathetically. ‘Often painful. Want another look round before we go?’
    â€˜Yes, please,’ said Tessa at once. She hesitated but James knew what was in her mind.
    â€˜I’ll leave you to go round alone,’ he said. ‘I’ll have a chat with Mrs Stangate, if she can spare the time.’
    Tessa’s face lit up. ‘Great!’ she said. ‘Shan’t be long.’
    â€˜Take as long as you like,’ said Isobel, who had every intention of pumping James for information. ‘Come in for some coffee when you’ve finished.’
    Â 
    TESSA WENT SLOWLY FROM room to room, touching the furniture and ornaments with gentle fingers and reading the titles of the books in the bookcases. Her plan to buy a cottage and live on the moor had been abandoned instantly as soon as she had entered the house. The rooms were full of trembling pearly light and the sound of the sea was like distant music. All was just as Mathilda had left it. Isobel had tidied the rooms and went in daily to dust and air the house but
there was an atmosphere of friendly welcome, as though the owner had just popped out and would be returning at any moment. Tessa opened the windows in the study and went out on to the balcony. It had shocked her to learn that she had had a relative of whom she knew nothing; a woman with the same name as her own, with whom she shared a common ancestor, someone of her own flesh and blood who had lived in this magic place.
    She leaned on the balustrade and watched the great white sails of a yacht filling with the gentle breeze that ruffled the turquoise sea. On the horizon a tanker appeared to be stationary, painted against the shimmering sky, its great length rendered toy size by distance. The tide washed gently in, hardly seeming to encroach upon the shore, and the sun shone on the stone of the old house and warmed Tessa where she stood in desperate longing.
    I want it! she told herself silently. I want it.
    She remembered James explaining the terms of the will. There were two other relatives involved so that even if they loved the place as much as she did there must inevitably