‘Well, it looks, John, as though you’re not, after all, going to get to see the really charming house, the Villa Marchì, where the “Whores” live. Unless, of course, you declare open mutiny,’ Peter said teasingly.
‘Actually, I’m quite busy tomorrow,’ John said, scandalised at the idea of such disloyalty.
‘I do think, Peter, you rather exaggerate the soi-disant charm of their house,’ Sir Christopher said. ‘I mean, by Italian standards, it is hardly more than a casa colonica.’
‘You must admit that it’s in a beautiful position,’ Peter said.
‘It’s rather hard,’ Sir Christopher stubbornly insisted, ‘not to find a beautiful position in Tuscany. And as for that wildly unkempt garden, well, it’s the only such one I’ve ever seen that manages to be both pretentious and pedestrian at the same time
