Oriental Hotel Read Free Page B

ride away. Home had been the manor house in the fold of the Cotswolds where Geraldine kept a string of ponies and gave lessons to local children and visitors alike; and boarding school had been close enough for her to come home at weekends – despite being so involved with her horses, Geraldine had insisted on that. And there had been no question of university or finishing school. Katy, never an academic child, had been too bored by studying to want to prolong the agony even if she had achieved sufficiently good grades to obtain a place at college. As for finishing school, Geraldine had hated every moment she had spent in the exclusive establishment on the shores of Lake Geneva and had vowed Katy should never be subjected to the same torture. Privately Elise thought Katy would have enjoyed it, but remembering how she had resented any interference with the upbringing of her own children, she had kept her opinions to herself.
    The gossamer bond between them, however, meant that it was usually Elise to whom Katy turned when she wanted advice. And Elise had been the first to be told when Katy was offered the position at the London gallery.
    â€˜I know I didn’t exactly excel myself at school, but this is something I really can do,’ Katy had said, excitement shining out of her like diffused sunshine. ‘I have always had an eye for lovely things.’
    â€˜You have had the advantage of being brought up in a home where you’ve been surrounded by them,’ Elise had agreed. ‘But there will be more to it than that, Katy. There will be plenty to learn if you’re to be an asset to a gallery.’
    â€˜I know, but I don’t mind learning things I’m interested in,’ Katy had told her confidently. Elise had smiled at her enthusiasm, glad she was able to begin building a future for herself doing something she loved.
    David, Katy’s father, had not been so pleased, as Elise knew. Katy’s failure to gain formal qualifications had disappointed him, but even so he had been keen for her to join the business in some capacity or other and Elise had been favourably surprised that he had failed to persuade her. Katy adored her father – since she was a small child she had constantly gone out of her way to merit his approval. Elise could well remember how when Katy was nine years old she had persevered week after endless week with violin lessons, though it was obvious to everyone but David that she would never make a musician, and she could recall all too clearly the anxiety on the child’s face when she brought home a school report which she knew would be less than complimentary.
    But with regard to her future, Katy had remained deaf to her father’s wishes and had stubbornly stuck to her decision to make her career in the field where her interest lay.
    She had been in London for a year now, and still her enthusiasm had not waned. Whereas she had been reluctant to learn from formal lessons, she soaked up knowledge of art like a sponge and already was almost indispensable to Murray Trent, the gallery which employed her. But she still managed to find plenty of time for having fun – her name was often in the gossip columns and Elise guessed that the rich and famous clients of the gallery were very much taken with her gaiety and charm.
    â€˜I’m prejudiced, of course,’ Elise said to herself with a smile. ‘ I’m so proud of her it almost makes me ashamed.’
    She lifted the newspaper, casting her eye over the report that accompanied the photograph:
The delicious Katrina Fletcher, who combines a career in arts and antiques with a hectic social calendar, is often to be seen these days with Gunther Dietrich, head of the German electronics firm. Katrina’s father, David Fletcher, and her uncle Alex Sanderson have repeatedly denied rumours that the family firm of Sanderson International is in financial difficulties, but the close companionship of Katrina