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The Villa in Italy: Escape to the Italian sun with this captivating, page-turning mystery
Elizabeth Edmondson
Escapist and completely absorbing, The Villa in Italy is the perfect, mouth-watering summer read.Four very different people are named in a will. All are summoned to the Villa Dante, home of the late Beatrice Malaspina. But who was she?While they wait to find out, the villa begins to work its seductive magic. With its faded frescoes and magnificent mediaeval tower, it’s unlike anywhere they have been before. Slowly, four characters who have gone to great lengths to hide their troubles find that change – and even hope – is possible after all. But the mysterious Beatrice has a devastating secret to reveal that will change everything . . .The perfect holiday read for fans of Rosanna Ley and Rachel Hore, The Villa in Italy is a beautiful evocation of Italy in the aftermath of World War Two.
ELIZABETH EDMONDSON
The Villa in Italy
Copyright (#ulink_51497dc8-e700-525f-8675-e0df13233877)
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
Harper An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd. 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF
www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)
First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2006
Copyright © A.E. Books Ltd 2006
Cover design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2014
Cover images © Shutterstock.com (http://Shutterstock.com)
The author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks
HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication
Source ISBN: 9780007223770
Ebook Edition © AUGUST 2009 ISBN: 9780007343416
Version: 2017-04-26
For Teresa Chris Thank you!
Table of Contents
Cover Page (#ueec4fa5d-8f23-5fc7-ac94-7dc5be360749)
Title Page (#uc97c071f-ebf9-55cc-898a-53d29632a9dc)
Copyright (#ubaf6e2c8-fa66-5723-8c03-691adb325b60)
Dedication (#u53db6e6a-b045-5e41-82cf-182686f647ad)
Prologue (#u320d3228-b760-55ac-8aa2-be6281edae94)
The Journey (#u0302c384-8e89-53ac-986a-e5a063e2f900)
ONE (#uba534343-6033-535b-a65d-ef850e042504)
TWO (#ufc608b21-6a3a-5e24-b6cd-c8b7f9cc5743)
THREE (#u0412dd10-10e0-5d88-9131-889d8d1dceeb)
FOUR (#u1251ec3d-fcba-5334-b8f2-6f18c4a5e210)
FIVE (#u1472deff-d22b-52a7-93c5-a5a6e53b95ee)
SIX (#ua9200847-e3df-50a9-a07a-25402410fd90)
SEVEN (#ud1ca2bf4-5e1c-55f4-9a11-2a3071dc88cb)
EIGHT (#ue5e00c75-6bfc-5f67-aacd-92b0fd5c1ce0)
NINE (#ua0cea4bd-ad02-554c-92b5-b2cad2d6a650)
TEN (#u18ae2754-14c9-5bb3-8cac-13ffb18cc216)
ELEVEN (#u66cdf7ab-b629-58dc-9647-1c5b3cad3c28)
The Villa (#ua9f1810f-bfe4-5c23-a54c-10d0b5eeb49a)
ONE (#ucce40024-b36b-5400-b7fc-2edcb7720be8)
TWO (#u9b3c2192-3752-5811-aa82-dab2556c22ff)
THREE (#u7312a339-eebe-50c9-8d6d-e9a7a37ce50c)
FOUR (#u6499b42f-5bd8-5d05-b2ee-40f9b45c6edb)
FIVE (#u278e6ce5-c873-563a-951d-8661f58b6fd1)
SIX (#litres_trial_promo)
SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)
NINE (#litres_trial_promo)
Lucius (#litres_trial_promo)
ONE (#litres_trial_promo)
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THREE (#litres_trial_promo)
FOUR (#litres_trial_promo)
FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)
SIX (#litres_trial_promo)
SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)
NINE (#litres_trial_promo)
TEN (#litres_trial_promo)
ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)
The Tower (#litres_trial_promo)
ONE (#litres_trial_promo)
TWO (#litres_trial_promo)
THREE (#litres_trial_promo)
FOUR (#litres_trial_promo)
FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)
SIX (#litres_trial_promo)
SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)
NINE (#litres_trial_promo)
TEN (#litres_trial_promo)
ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)
Arrivals & Departures (#litres_trial_promo)
ONE (#litres_trial_promo)
TWO (#litres_trial_promo)
THREE (#litres_trial_promo)
FOUR (#litres_trial_promo)
FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)
SIX (#litres_trial_promo)
SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)
NINE (#litres_trial_promo)
TEN (#litres_trial_promo)
Keep Reading (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
PROLOGUE (#ulink_6fdc28a4-8442-5e6e-8a39-d4c290897417)
The package from the lawyers arrived early one foggy April morning. It was wrapped in brown paper, tied with string and sealed with red wax.
The postman came whistling through the door to the offices of Hawkins & Hallett, bringing with him a gust of cold, damp air, and greeted the thin-lipped, middle-aged receptionist with a cheery, ‘Good morning.’
Miss Jay looked at him over the top of her half-moon spectacles, her eyes cold and disapproving. ‘What’s this?’ she said, as he handed her the package. Her mouth tightened as she saw the seal, complete with crest; really, these authors did give themselves airs. She turned it over, and saw the sender’s name: Winthrop, Winthrop & Jarvis.
‘Lawyers, I reckon,’ said the postman. ‘What have you lot been up to? Or maybe it’s the juicy memoirs of a judge. Anyhow, it’s to be signed for. The rest will be along later, same as usual.’
She signed the slip in neat, upright strokes, and handed it back to the postman. Then she drew the post book out of her drawer and made an entry. As she did so, the door opened again, letting in another blast of chilly air and a girl in a duffel coat.
‘Good morning, Miss Hallett,’ the receptionist said icily, and looked pointedly at the large clock. ‘Five minutes late again.’
The girl grinned and heaved herself out of her coat, which she hung on the hatstand behind the door. ‘What’s five minutes between friends, Miss Jay?’
‘Please take this package upstairs to Miss Hawkins. Right away.’
‘Okey-dokey,’ and the girl bounded up the brown lino stairs two at a time, her pony tail swinging as she went.
Miss Jay winced. Susie Hallett might be a partner’s daughter, but taking on a girl like that was a mistake, even if she only came in two mornings a week.
Susie swung herself round on the polished curve of the banister rail on the first floor and skidded to a halt outside a panelled door with ‘Miss Hawkins, Publishing Director’ written on the name board in bold gold letters. She knocked on the door, and went in without waiting for a reply. ‘Hello, Miss Hawkins. Post.’
