Читать книгу Marconi My Beloved - Maria C. Marconi - Страница 38

We went to Cornwall every year; we often visited Torquay, Falmouth, Plymouth and Dartmouth, the home of the Naval Academy for Officers of the Royal Navy which Guglielmo admired so much. All the same, he was proud to be a Rear Admiral of the Italian Navy and thought highly of our own Naval Academy at Livorno. When we were at Dartmouth we often entertained high ranking naval officers who enjoyed coming on board the Elettra.

However, our favourite place, the one we loved the most, was Fowey Harbour. Fowey is a fishing village on the south-west coast of Cornwall, built on both banks of the River Fowey near the estuary. The sea and the river at Fowey are green and so are both banks of the river. In summer the leafy willows droop gracefully into the water.

The village is very old and the houses are small and low, lined up along the river bank. Every family has a fishing boat moored in front of the house and in order to get into their houses the fishermen climb up a wooden ladder attached to the wall and held up by ropes. The only inhabitants of this quiet and peaceful village are fishermen and their families whose hard-working lives revolve around fishing. They have been living there happily for generations. The old church and the little flower-filled cemetery lie not far away. This is the real, old England.

Fowey was a haven for both of us. Guglielmo went on with his experiments while I read a lot. We used to interrupt the peace of those days with short boat trips along the river in the Thornicroft motorboat. There were delightful little inlets where the trees and greenery on the banks were reflected in the still water giving a refreshing and restful feeling. How often during the rest of the year would Guglielmo remember nostalgically Fowey’s beauty and tranquillity!

There was only one other person who loved the village as much as we did. This was the great actor, Sir Gerald Du Maurier who had chosen it as his retreat. He had built himself a house on the river-bank which appeared to be in a grotto. The sitting-room was almost at water level on the natural rocks. The rooms were like those of the local fishermen but every comfort was provided. Sir Gerald Du Maurier used to spend the weekends there with his family. It was always a pleasure for us to visit them. Guglielmo enjoyed himself in that typically seaside house and we spent many happy hours in its informal atmosphere. The Du Mauriers were a charming family and when we were at Fowey they often came to lunch with us on board the Elettra. We were all very cheerful. Daphne, Sir Gerald and Lady Du Maurier’s daughter, was then a fair-haired and very lively young girl; she used to have fun climbing on the yacht’s rigging. She was so graceful and agile that it was a pleasure to watch her. In those days I would never have thought that she would become a great writer and win such popularity with her famous novel “Rebecca”.