Shivers coiled up her spine.
For all of Theseus’s talk that Theo didn’t exist, this house proved that he did.
She and Toby had been given rooms opposite each other on the second floor. Toby’s was large and airy, with a double bed. His sleepy eyes widened to see it.
‘Is that mine?’ he asked, yawning.
‘While we’re here, yes.’ Placing him on the bed, she rooted through his suitcase until she found a pair of pyjamas.
‘How long are we staying for, Mummy?’
What could she say? He’d only just arrived. Did she have to tell him so soon that their stay here would be for ever and that the life he knew and loved was gone?
She was saved from having to answer by a soft tap on the door. A young woman, no older than twenty, stood at the doorway almost bouncing with excitement. She introduced herself as her maid, Elektra.
‘My maid?’ Jo asked, puzzled.
‘Yes, despinis. I am excited to meet you and your son.’
Elektra stepped into the room. When she looked at Toby her eyes widened. ‘He has—’
‘I need to get Toby settled down for the night,’ Jo interrupted, certain the maid was about to make a reference to Toby’s likeness to Theseus. ‘If you give me ten minutes, then you can show me what’s what.’
Understanding flashed in Elektra’s eyes. ‘I’ll unpack your cases. Nice to meet you, Toby.’
When she was alone with her son, Jo got him washed, teeth brushed and into his pyjamas. He was already falling asleep when she kissed him goodnight and slipped from his room, going across the corridor into her own.
She stepped inside on weary feet, but still had enough energy to sigh with pleasure at the room’s graceful simplicity and creamy palette. Looking at the four-poster bed, with its inviting plump pillows, she knew she at least had a sanctuary that was all her own. This room was entirely feminine.
Her chest squeezed and she shut her eyes tight, fighting back a sudden batch of tears.
Shouldn’t she be happy? She was going to be a princess! Her son would never want for anything ever again. There would be no more juggling money or eking out her salary, no more shame at sending Toby to preschool with trousers an inch too short. As Theseus’s son he would have the best of everything, from clothing to education. And so would she, as his wife.
She would never have to struggle again.
She should be as happy as one of her mother’s pampered animals.
So why did she feel so heartsick?
* * *
The villa sat in silence when Nikos dropped Theseus off outside the main door.
Philippe, his young, energetic butler, greeted him. After exchanging a few words about the two new members of the household, Theseus dismissed him for the night.
At the palace there were always staff members on shift. If he wanted a three-course meal at three o’clock in the morning, a three-course meal would appear. Always somewhere there would be activity.
Here, in his personal domain, away from stuffy protocol, he liked a more relaxed, informal atmosphere. If he wanted a three-course meal at three o’clock in the morning he would damn well make it himself. Not that he could cook anything other than cheese on toast—a hangover from his English boarding school days and still his favourite evening snack.
Tonight he was too tired to eat.
Dragging himself up the stairs on legs that felt as if they had weights in them, he reached the room his son slept in. He stood at the partly open door for an age before stepping inside.
A night light in the shape of a train had been placed by the bed, giving the room a soft, warm glow. On the bed itself he could see nothing but a tiny bundle, swamped by the outsized proportions of the sheets, fast asleep.
He trod forward silently and reached Toby’s side. All that was visible of him in the pile of sheets was a shock of black hair. He stood there for a long time, doing nothing but watching the little bundle’s frame rise and fall.
He waited for a feeling of triumph to hit him.
His son was here, sleeping in his home, safe under his protection. But there was no triumph he could discern in the assortment of emotions raging through him, just a swelling of his chest and a tightness in his gut.
He went to lean over and kiss him but stopped. If he woke him it would scare him. In his son’s eyes Theseus was a stranger.
Jo’s bedroom door opposite was also ajar. A light, fruity scent pervaded the air. He went in and stuck his head around the open en-suite bathroom door.
Jo lay in the sunken bath, her russet hair piled on top of her head, her eyes shut.