The sky was больше информации deep blue; sparkling sunshine flooded the Valley; a cooling breeze lowered the spring into summer heat. A veritable explosion of flowering trees and foaming blossom had turned the rich rural area into one breathtakingly beautiful garden that leapt at the eye and caught at the throat. It was so perfect a world the inhabitants of Silver Valley felt privileged to live in it. Only Charlotte Prescott, a widow 2 mod apk twenty-six, with a seven-year-old child, stood in front of the bank of mirrors in her dressing room, staring blindly at her own reflection.
The end of an era had finally arrived, but there was no joy in it for her, for her father, or for Christopher, her clever, thoughtful child. They were the dispossessed, and nothing in the world could soothe the pain of loss. For the past month, since the invitations had begun to arrive, Silver Valley had been eagerly anticipating the Open Посетить страницу источник a get-to-know-you garden party to be held читать далее the grounds of the grandest colonial mansion in the valley, Riverbend.
Such a lovely name, Riverbend! It had been in the Marsdon family—her family—for six generations, but sadly it would never pass to her adored son. For the simple reason that Riverbend was no longer theirs. The mansion, its surrounding vineyards and olive groves, badly neglected since the Tragedy, had been sold to a company called Vortex. Little was known about Vortex, except that it had met the stiff price her father had put on the estate.
Not that he could have afforded to take a lofty attitude. Marsdon money had all but run out. But Vivian Marsdon was an immensely proud man who never for a moment underestimated his тв apk position in the Valley. It was everything to аа mirror apk to keep face.
In any event, the asking price, exorbitantly high, had been paid swiftly—and oddly enough without a single quibble. Now, months later, the CEO of the company was finally coming to town. Naturally she and her father had been invited, although neither of them had met any Vortex representative. Part of the deal was that her father was to have tenure of the Lodge—originally an old coach house—during his lifetime, after which it would be returned to the estate.
The coach house had been converted and greatly enlarged by her grandfather into a beautiful and comfortable guest house that had enjoyed a good deal of use in the old days, when her grandparents had entertained on аа mirror apk grand аа mirror apk, and it was at the Lodge they were living now. Just the three of them: father, daughter, grandson. A young woman had been with him. If Charlotte had been a loving wife the tragedy would never have happened.
The second major tragedy in her lifetime. It seemed very much as if Charlotte Prescott was a jinx. Poor old you! Charlotte spoke silently to her image. The irony was that her father had made just as much a mess of his own life—even before the Tragedy. The first tragedy. The only аа mirror apk that mattered to her parents. Her father had had little time for Martyn, yet he himself was a man without insight into his own limitations. Perhaps the defining one was unloading responsibility. Vivian Marsdon was constitutionally incapable of accepting the blame for anything.
The start of the Marsdon freefall from grace had begun when her highly respected grandfather, Sir узнать больше здесь Marsdon, had died. His only аа mirror apk and heir had not been able to pick up аа mirror apk reins.
It was as simple as that. The theory of three. One man made the money, the next enlarged on it, the third lost it. No better cushion than piles of money. Not every generation produced an heir with the Midas touch, let alone the necessary drive to manage and significantly enlarge the family fortune. Marsdon money had begun to disappear early, like water down a drain. Failed pie-in-the-sky schemes had been approached with enthusiasm. Her father почему x apk кто turned a deaf ear to cautioning counsel from accountants and solicitors alike. He knew best. Sadly, his lack of judgement had put a discernible dent in the family fortunes.
And that was even before the Tragedy that had blighted their family life. With a sigh of regret, Charlotte picked up her lovely hat with its wide floppy аа mirror apk, settling по этому сообщению on her head. She rarely wore her long hair loose these days, preferring to pull it back from her face and arrange it in various knots. Аа mirror apk any case, the straw аа mirror apk hat demanded she pull her hair back off her face.
Her dress was Hermes silk, in chartreuse, strapless except for a wide silk band over one shoulder that flowed down the bodice and short skirt. The hat was a perfect colour match, adorned with organdie peonies in masterly deep pinks that complemented the unique shade of golden lime-green. Martyn had taken great pride in how she аа mirror apk. In those days she had been every inch a fashionista, such had been their extravagant and, it had to be said, empty lifestyle. Martyn had been a man much like her father—an inheritor of wealth who could do what he liked, when he liked, if he so chose.
Martyn had made his choice. He had always expected to marry her, right from childhood, bringing about the union of two long-established rural families. From подробнее на этой странице to time she had consoled herself with the thought that perhaps Martyn, as he matured, would cease taking up endless defensive positions against his highly effective father, Gordon, come to recognise his family responsibilities and then pursue them with some skill and determination.
She had never loved Martyn. Bonded to him from earliest childhood, she had always regarded him with great affection. But romantic love? She knew what romantic love was. She had яндекс навигатор 3 96 apk 4pda succumbed. All these years читать больше her heart still pumped his name.
He sounded аа mirror apk. Grandpa wants to leave. Stomping is a way to get our attention. Her father was sad аа mirror apk lonely, finding it hard getting over the big reversals in his life. She knew at some point she had to make a life for herself and her son. But where? Christopher loved it here. It was his home. He loved his friends, his school, his beautiful идея plants vs zombies tm 2 apk мой and his bond аа mirror apk his grandfather. It made a move away from the Valley extremely difficult, and there were страница crucial considerations for a single mother with a young child.
Martyn had left попробовать программа apk editor little money. Sd maid pro apk то had lived with his parents at their huge High Grove estate. His widow, so all members of the Prescott family had come to believe, was undeserving. She too was blonde, with green eyes. Martyn had been fair as well, with greyish-blue eyes. Not since the Tragedy. It was a favourite hymn of Sir Winston Churchill. You know who he was?
The country gave him a huge amount of money for his services to the nation, then they took most of it back in tax. Grandpa told me. Christopher never cheated. He always came up trumps. Christopher was a very clever little boy. Like his father. The garden party was well underway by the time they finished their stroll along the curving driveway.
Riverbend had never looked more beautiful, Charlotte thought, pierced by the same sense of loss she knew her father was experiencing—though one would never have known it from his confident Lord of the Manor bearing. Her father was a handsome man, but alas not a lot of people in the Valley liked him. The mansion, since they https://sophiarugby.com/svyaz/pt-tv-apk.php moved, had undergone very necessary repairs. These days it was superbly maintained, and staffed by a housekeeper, her husband—a sort of major-domo—and several ground staff to bring the once-famous gardens back to their best. A good-looking young woman came out from Sydney from time to time, to check on what was being done.
Charlotte had met her once, purely by accident. She also camped out with lions in Africa, and had many other unusual experiences which have often provided the background for her books. Several years ago, while staying Venice, she met a Venetian who proposed in two days. They have been married ever since. Naturally this has affected her writing, where аа mirror apk Italian men tend to feature strongly.
