‘What will you do?’ said Haight.

‘I am driving straight back,’ said Victor. ‘But I don’t know what to do with James. There will not be a very happy atmosphere at Casa Polipo.’

‘Why doesn’t he stay with us?’ said Perry, who had been listening intently. ‘We’ll look after him.’

Victor turned to Peter Haight now, with a questioning look on his face.

‘It’s certainly an option,’ said Haight. ‘We’re off tomorrow to look at some caves near Dorgali. Thye’ve got the largest stalagmite in Europe’

Victor turned back to James. ‘It makes sense for you to stay with your school party,’ he said. ‘Until I am sure it is safe and the villa is back in order. Then I will send a telegram and you can spend the last few days of your holiday with us in Capo d’Orso.’

‘All right,’ said James. ‘And please – don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.’

‘Do you have anything with you?’

‘I brought my bag with me. Just in case.’

‘Always prepared, eh, James?’ Victor smiled.

‘We’ll look after him for you, Monsieur Delacroix,’ said Haight, ‘and make sure we send him back to you in one piece.’

‘Thank you, Peter,’ said Victor. ‘But I sometimes think that James can look after himself. Now, where is Mauro?’

They found him lying on a bench, fast asleep.

‘The poor boy,’ said Victor. ‘He is exhausted. He cannot travel like this. His village is not far from here. He should go there and rest for a few days with his family. He has had quite a shock.’ Victor put a hand on James’s shoulder. ‘James, we will go quickly before he wakes. Otherwise I know he will insist on driving me. Tell him that I said he must go home. Will you do that for me?’

‘Of course.’

James took Victor to the Hispano-Suiza and fetched his bag, but, just as they were about to drive off, Poliponi became agitated and tried to get out of the car, muttering something about saying goodbye to Count Ugo.

‘Forget about him,’ said Victor, pulling the artist back in. ‘He is a fool.’

‘How can you say that?’ said Poliponi angrily. ‘When you have seen with your own eyes all that he has achieved.’

‘It is because I have seen it that I can say it,’ Victor snapped. ‘I have seen his palazzo and I have seen his insane dam. Everything here is fake. Nothing is what it seems. His fine buildings, they are not stone. Their fronts are plaster. One heavy rainstorm and they will crumble. Everything about this place is a lie.’

‘You are just jealous,’ said Poliponi.