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Back The Dragon Lady Save as PDF
Chapters (57)
  1. Cover
  2. Half-Title
  3. Dedication
  4. Series
  5. Title
  6. Part One
  7. 1 Catherine, 1990s
  8. 2 Ginie, Rhodesia, 1950s
  9. 3 Catherine, Rhodesia, 1950s
  10. 4 Stephen, Rhodesia, 1950s
  11. 5 Catherine, Rhodesia, 1950s
  12. 6 Stephen, Rhodesia, 1950s
  13. Part Two
  14. 7 The Courtaulds, Courmayeur, 1919
  15. 8 Ginie, London, 1920s
  16. 9 Ginie, London, 1920s
  17. 10 Ginie, Italy, 1910s
  18. 11 The Courtaulds, London, 1920s
  19. Part Three
  20. 12 Stephen, Rhodesia, 1950s
  21. 13 Ginie, Rhodesia, 1950s
  22. 14 Catherine, Rhodesia, 1950s
  23. 15 The Courtaulds, Rhodesia, 1950s
  24. 16 Catherine, Rhodesia, 1950s
  25. 17 Ginie, Rhodesia, 1950s
  26. 18 Catherine, Rhodesia, 1950s
  27. 19 Ginie, Rhodesia, 1950s
  28. Part Four
  29. 20 The Courtaulds, London, 1930s
  30. 21 The Courtaulds, Eltham, 1930s
  31. 22 The Courtaulds, Eltham, 1940s
  32. 23 Ginie, Scotland, 1940s
  33. Part Five
  34. 24 The Courtaulds, Rhodesia, 1950s
  35. 25 Ginie, Rhodesia, 1950s
  36. 26 Catherine, Rhodesia, 1950s
  37. 27 The Courtaulds, Rhodesia, 1950s
  38. 28 Catherine, Rhodesia, 1950s
  39. 29 The Courtaulds, Rhodesia, 1950s
  40. 30 Ginie, Rhodesia, 1950s
  41. 31 The Courtaulds, Rhodesia, 1950s
  42. 32 The Courtaulds, Rhodesia, 1950s
  43. 33 Ginie, Rhodesia, 1950s
  44. 34 Catherine, Rhodesia, 1950s
  45. 35 Ginie, Rhodesia, 1950s
  46. 36 Stephen, Rhodesia, 1950s
  47. 37 Ginie, Rhodesia, 1950s
  48. 38 Catherine, Rhodesia, 1950s
  49. 39 Ginie, Rhodesia, 1950s
  50. 40 The Courtaulds, Rhodesia, 1950s
  51. 41 Catherine, Rhodesia, 1950s
  52. 42 Catherine, Rhodesia, 1950s
  53. 43 The Courtaulds, Rhodesia, 1950s
  54. Epilogue: Catherine, England, 1990s
  55. Author’s Note
  56. Acknowledgements
  57. A Note on the Author

A visceral, metallic smell filled the air as ants carried morsels of meat bigger than themselves. Tears poured down her face. What on earth had happened? Surely a nimble, fleet-footed creature like Jongy couldn’t have been ambushed by ants? Struggling to understand, Ginie watched in horror as a fly crawled around one of the eye sockets in Jongy’s head, and remembered the fiery amber of his eyes. Unable to look away, she studied his form until she noticed a bullet lodged in his thigh bone. So that was it: Jongy had been shot. Limping and bleeding, the swarm of ants had attacked him and he couldn’t get away.

Still, her mind could not take it in. Who could have shot Jongy? Who would want to hurt a defenceless animal? At last she understood and chills ran through her, making the muscles of her stomach heave. Crouching low, she vomited onto the ground until there was nothing left in her stomach. Whoever had shot Jongy had done it to hurt her.

And this person meant business.

Part Four

PART FOUR

20 The Courtaulds, London, 1930s

20

The Courtaulds, London, 1930s

In December 1934, Ginie’s father was struck down by a massive heart attack in Santa Margherita, collapsing whilst out walking on the promenade. He had been in the best of health, with no intimation that anything was wrong with his heart. The suddenness of his death hit Ginie hard: no chance to say goodbye, no way to resolve their unfinished conversations. She decided not to travel to Italy for the funeral. Her father was gone and she couldn’t face the contact with Rosa.

Worn down by grief, London seemed more relentless and unfriendly than ever, a place determined to suppress a stranger. The acceptance she craved eluded her, yet the desire to make her mark was stronger than ever. She had never lived in one house for more than a few years and they had been in Grosvenor Square for several. She craved change and a new project, something to take her out of herself. With the help of the architects John Seeley and Paul Paget, she and Stephen started looking for an outstanding house and garden; a property that would make people sit up and take notice. Nothing they saw was quite right.

They discovered Eltham Palace quite by accident. One Sunday, the retired Bishop of Chester gave a sermon at Eltham Parish Church, where he heard that the Palace was uninhabited and slowly going to ruin – nobody knew what to do with it. The Bishop was Paul Paget’s father. He sent details of the estate to Stephen and Ginie and the three of them drove out to see it.