Read Online Casanova by Mark Arundel - Free Book Online Page A

morning; perhaps we’ll see you on the slopes.’
    ‘Yes, perhaps; that would be nice.’
    We put on again our coats, hats, gloves, and then left. At the end of the path, Charlotte gently tugged on my arm and whispered, ‘Well, what do you think?’
    ‘I think Casanova is here in the resort, and staying somewhere nearby.’
    ‘Why do you think that?’
    ‘I saw something in her eyes. I think she knows he’s here. She’s scared but not because he’s missing; it’s something else.’
    ‘The reason he went missing in the first place,’ Charlotte said.
    We walked back to Charlotte’s chalet through the heavy snow and were soon in the warmth once more. A log fire crackled and the Christmas tree lights twinkled. Her grandfather didn’t seem surprised to see me.
    ‘Why did you leave the army?’ he asked.
    ‘They wouldn’t let me stay any longer; I was using up all the bullets.’
    He didn’t ask anymore. Charlotte intervened and said, ‘The army only has so much to teach; it’s best not to stay in for too long. Isn’t that right grandfather?’
    ‘Yes, yes I suppose so.’
    He himself had left young and then joined the bank. Charlotte was a skilled amateur diplomat.
    We finished the meal with a course of cheese and biscuits. Charlotte sipped her claret and her eyes smiled at me over the large rim of her wine glass.
    I drank my coffee and turned to her grandfather, ‘Sir Sebastian,’ I said, ‘we called in on Alice Chester earlier this evening; she and her two daughters are staying in the chalet behind this one.’
    ‘Oh, yes; yes, I know they, um, are staying nearby.’
    ‘It’s terrible that her husband, William, has disappeared.’
    ‘Oh, yes, yes, it is.’
    ‘I don’t suppose you know where he is?’
    ‘Me? No, I don’t know where the young man is. Why should I know?’
    ‘I just thought he might have told you.’
    ‘Oh; no, no he didn’t tell me.’
    I wasn’t going to get anything out of the old man, although I thought there was a good chance he knew a lot more than he was saying.
    It was time for me to leave. I said my goodbyes. At the door Charlotte said, ‘Skiing, tomorrow; I’ll meet you outside the lift at nine o’clock.’ She kissed me on the cheek and then smiled.
    Outside it was still snowing. I dug in my boots and climbed the slope back onto the track. The freezing night air stung my face and the dark snowflakes smothered any chance there may have been of decent visibility. A dead silence seemed to hang across the mountain like the stillness before the fall of the executioner’s axe. It was late and the track was deserted. I pulled my collar higher and trudged towards the village.
    The roadway led me onto a sweeping turn and on the apex, through the falling snow, I caught a glimpse of the village lights in the distance. Ahead, the mountain loomed and at this level, it was thick with fir trees. They showed black against the lighter snowy ground.
    Fleeting movement, somewhere in the trees, caught my eye. I wasn’t certain what it was but something dark had moved. I slowed my pace and scanned the area. The snow was falling like cotton balls from a bag turned upside down. I continued to look and then I saw the movement again. It was a man and a woman. They were making their way down through the trees. Each moved carefully so as not to fall. They had obviously dropped down from a pathway higher up and were now attempting to connect with the roadway on which I was. I watched them take sideways steps between the fir trees. The man’s feet disappeared and then reappeared in the deep fresh snow. The woman followed closely behind. Before they reached the roadway, I passed them still in the trees. I looked up at them and watched them move closer as I went by. I slowed my pace and looked back. The man reached the roadway and stepped onto the level ground with obvious relief. The woman did the same. They embraced and then headed off in the direction I had just come from. I watched them