CHAPTER FIVE
A CHâTEAU in the Loire Valley...what else for a Terzakis? Sarah asked herself as the limousine wafted them at a stately pace down an avenue girded on both sides by a marching procession of huge lime trees, their graceful, pendent foliage shimmering as the light breeze played with the leaves.
‘How long have you lived here?’ Sarah was entranced enough to speak freely as a resplendent building, fashioned of pale creamy stone and built in the classical tradition, began to come into view at the foot of the avenue. ‘Gosh...it’s huge!’ she gasped when she belatedly absorbed the two wings curving back in symmetrical style from the three-storey-high central block.
‘This was my mother’s family home.’
‘She was French? When did she die?’ Sarah asked, suddenly thirsty for information.
‘When I was a child,’ Alex retorted in a quelling tone that suggested she was trespassing on forbidden territory.
Sarah bent her head, suddenly embarrassed by her own adolescent excitement. But she had never been abroad in her life before, hadn’t even crossed the Channel on a day trip to Calais. It was very difficult to take her abrupt change in circumstances coolly in her stride when she was faced with a fabulous château looking like something out of a fairy-tale.
Without warning, Alex leant forward to stare out incredulously at the female figure surging out of the palatial main entrance towards their car as it drew to a halt. He ground out a stifled imprecation in his own language and then groaned out loud. Momentarily, beneath Sarah’s astounded gaze, he looked like a male waiting for an express train to drive over him—helpless.
‘If you dare to betray by even a hint that Nicky is not our child, I will kill you,’ Alex hissed half under his breath.
And the way he looked at her, Sarah believed him. ‘But who is—?’
She got no further. The chauffeur opened the car door. The small blonde woman, waiting impatiently, enveloped her straight into an enthusiastic and affectionate embrace.
‘I’m your mother-in-law,’ she said cheerfully.
‘Sarah, this is Vivien, my stepmother—’
‘Always so precise when anybody could tell you that I’ve loved him like my own for over twenty years,’ Vivien sighed.
‘You’re English,’ was all Sarah could find to say weakly, feeling engulfed.
‘Alex, I know I’m more than a little out of order just landing like this on your wedding night,’ Vivien was appealing with pleading eyes while Alex stood there towering over her like a monolith carved out of stone. ‘But you do see that I simply couldn’t wait to meet Sarah, who is going to make you astonishingly happy...and how can I tell that before I get to know her? She hugged me back. Pounced on by a total stranger and she hugged me back because she didn’t want to hurt my feelings!’
‘Vivien,’ Alex attempted to insert a word into the endless flood.
‘No hug?’ Vivien looked expectant.
Alex bent down to peck the proffered cheek.
‘I see he still counts you as an audience, Sarah. He’s usually a little more enthusiastic... Well, where is he?’
‘Who?’ Alex breathed.
‘Alex, what’s the matter with you? Your son. I am just dying to get my hands on him!’
The other car drew up. Nanny emerged, complete with Nicky. Vivien surged over and then slowly retreated a step.
‘Let us go into the house. I will have you shown to your room.’ Alex anchored a hand like a vice to Sarah’s elbow, dragging her in his wake, evidently keen to remove her from his charming stepmother’s radius.
But Vivien cut them off. ‘Nanny says he’s asleep and mustn’t be disturbed,’ she stage-whispered with a grimace. ‘Bit of a dragon, isn’t she? Your choice, Alex?’
‘Yes,’ Sarah confirmed.
‘Your son is gorgeous, Sarah.’ Vivien patted her arm warmly. ‘You are a clever girl, and so slim again so quickly. Looking at you, nobody would ever dream you’re a very new mother. Are you breast-feeding?’
Sarah reddened fiercely. ‘No.’
‘I’ll take Nikos up to the nursery, madam.’ Nanny sailed past.
‘She’s like a tank, isn’t she?’ Vivien remarked. ‘I can see her putting up barricades to keep us out.’