Chapter 539

• Piers was smoking standing at the window, leaning a hand on the window ledge as he puffed away furiously. Ria was pacing furiously, occasionally snapping at the unfortunate Philippe who stood, his big frame in the doorway as he ran his hands through his hair, uneasy and upset.
• Tara sat by Claude who had just been ministered to by the ever-efficient Camille, and now he sported a band-aid over his nose and his bruises had been washed clean and ministered to. The young girl who was rapidly growing to be a beauty, with her fresh-looking skin and large grey-blue eyes, was tenderly holding her brother’s hand as she sat by the bed. Lou and Dom had disappeared. They had been tired by the long flight from the Continent and Rudy was safely tucked in bed.
• ‘What did he mean, how dare Pappa say something so nasty…?’ Ria was hissing at her twin who looked harassed and unhappy as he continued to smoke moodily. Piers never smoked before his parents but it was a habit he had developed of late to help him cope with the stress.