Read Online Country Pursuits by Jo Carnegie - Free Book Online

well-fleshed horsy blonde woman who reminded her of Princess Anne in the throes of a minor breakdown.
    â€˜I am! Bloody Julien’s been at my Cacharelpashmina with the scissors. I just caught the little horror flying around the garden in it pretending to be Superman!’ Julien was Lucinda and Nico’s five-year-old son. She also had a precocious pair of eleven-year-old twins, Hero and Horatio, by her first husband. ‘Anyway, I was just passing and wanted to know if you fancied coming along to the pony club quiz night with me next week. I’m organizing it, thought it would be a good chance for you to meet some of the other girls, see what you think of it all. You’d better not leave it too much longer to put Milo’s name down, they are
dreadfully
oversubscribed at the moment.’
    Caro sighed. Lucinda had made it her mission to try and get Caro to sign up to practically every club and society in the district. ‘Can’t have you at home all day while your husband’s away!’ she had told her. Since decamping to the country, Lucinda had forgone her townie roots with a vengeance. ‘Integrating with the village is
so
important for one’s family,’ she had insisted. Caro tried to hide her irritation. ‘Milo’s not one until next year, Lucinda, I’m sure it won’t matter just yet. Besides, he might not like horses.’
    Lucinda looked at her as though she was speaking some foreign, incomprehensible language.
    â€˜Of
course
he’ll like horses!’ she cried. ‘The twins are quite besotted with their ponies; I don’t know what I did to keep them from under my feet before.’
    At that point, Milo started crying upstairs. Caro had never been so pleased to hear the sound.
    â€˜Look, I’m going to have to go—’ she started. Lucinda looked past her down the hall and smiledsympathetically, revealing large white teeth with a gap between the front ones.
    â€˜Of course, bloody nightmare at that age. Bloody nightmare at any age! Ha ha ha.’ She looked at her watch and panic flittered across her face. ‘Christ, look at the time! I’ve got to take Hero to cello practice and I’ve a mountain of paperwork to get through. Let me know what you want to do about next week.’
    I won’t be coming, thought Caro as she watched Lucinda’s ample rear disappear down the path towards a muddy Range Rover. She knew Lucinda was just being kind, really, but the thought of spending the evening in a room full of loud, domineering women and their rowdy offspring held about as much appeal as watching John Prescott do a naked pole-dance. Upstairs, Milo’s cries had developed into blood-curdling yells. Once again, Caro ran up the stairs to placate him.

Chapter 11
    THE DAY OF the dinner party arrived, and from midday Camilla had been in the kitchen roasting, basting, tasting and whisking. The smoked salmon mousse now resting in the fridge was a triumph. The lamb had been studded with rosemary and garlic and was ready to go in the oven later. Potatoes and vegetables were under control. Camilla had ended up cheating on the petit fours and buying them from the Swiss confectioner’s when she was dashing through Cirencester on her way home from work, but they were exquisite. The only thing that was a slight let-down was the lemon meringue pie. She had followed Nigella’s recipe to the letter, but it hadn’t looked, well, quite so messy in the picture in the book. Camilla’s version looked more like a pile of vomit than a gastronomic triumph, but she figured she could smother it in cream and dim the lights when she brought it in.
    It was 6.45 p.m. The guests were arriving in forty-five minutes. Calypso had just told her Sam was stuck in bad traffic on the M4 and would be there by 8 p.m. at the latest. The Bollinger was chilling in the fridge, and several bottles of red were openedand resting comfortably on the table in the