Under a Siena Sun (Escape to Tuscany #1) - T.A. Williams Page 0,90

Are you telling me William Thornton came from Newcastle and he gave that name to his new home in Tuscany?’

Guido nodded. ‘She tried Newcastle-upon-Tyne but found nothing, but then she tried the town of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England, and found a record of his birth in 1350. It all fits.’

‘So the castle never was a castle…’ Lucy was fascinated. She looked across at David who had a similar expression on his face. ‘But you told me many of the houses round here are made of stone from the castle, how could that be?’

David nodded. ‘That’s what I heard, and certainly there are similar bits of stone all over the village.’

Guido had an answer. ‘I imagine after building work stopped, the locals helped themselves to any materials left lying around and pulled down some bits of what walls had already been erected. So, David, you are indeed living next to the foundations of a castle built by an Englishman, but it died along with William Thornton.’

The rest of the evening was spent talking history and when, at one point, David happened to mention that he was thinking about going for a doctorate in medieval history, Guido was very supportive.

‘Please come and talk to me about it. We would love to have you.’

Lucy glanced across and couldn’t miss the delight on David’s face. She grinned at him and squeezed his fingers.

‘How about that, David? You could study in Florence and stay living here.’ Which would also keep him conveniently close to her and her place of work. It sounded perfect.

The next evening she invited David, along with Daniela and Pietro, to her house for dinner so they could all meet up, and she got the distinct impression that her friends approved of her choice of man. David told them what Guido had said about the castle and they looked fascinated. Piero in particular had even played among the ruins as a youngster and knew them well. As for Lucy, she couldn’t have been happier – apart from a nagging worry, deep down, as to where this all might be leading. Could she have a future with somebody as wealthy as him without sacrificing her principles? Sooner or later something was going to have to give but, for now, she did her best to relegate that to the back of her mind and just concentrate on enjoying the moment.

She saw nothing of Bruno or Virginia at work on Monday, but that afternoon she ran into Charles, who had some surprising – and welcome – news.

‘Hi, Lucy, I want you to be one of the first to know – I’m leaving.’

‘What, permanently?’ Lucy looked up in surprise.

‘Yes, I’ve been offered a position with MSF in Chad. I thought, if you can do Africa, so can I.’

‘Good for you, but why leave now?’ Although she felt pretty sure she knew what he was going to say. She wasn’t wrong.

He dropped his eyes. ‘I need a change, and it’s sort of to do with that thing I told you about.’

‘That thing or that woman?’

‘That woman. I need to put some distance between me and her.’

As far as Lucy was concerned, this proved it. And his decision to leave was the best thing that could happen. For once in his life, Charles was doing the right thing and she was pleased to see this sign of positive personal development in him. She didn’t press him for any further information and went off feeling relieved. She heard later that day that Bruno and Virginia had returned to the Island of Elba to continue their holiday for another few days and she crossed her fingers, hoping they would be able to resolve matters between them.

On Wednesday evening she and David went down to Siena for the Palio. This four-day event had been running since Monday with practice sessions, processions and ceremonies, including the all-important drawing of lots to see which contrada got which horse. Thursday was the main event when jockeys from ten of the seventeen contrade would race bareback around the main square. Siena was packed out with locals as well as tourists. Even though she and David took her little car, they still had to park a long way from the centre and as they walked into the old town, the crowds became thicker and thicker. It was a tight squeeze to get down the main street towards the piazza and Lucy was very glad that the access to their drinks reception wasn’t from inside the square