The Italian’s Miracle Family

CHAPTER NINE

SHE went to see Brian to ask for a week off.

‘I know I’ve already had a week this year-’ she began.

‘Hey, don’t make me sound like a slave-driver. A week is nothing, and you’re due for some time off. Planning anything special?’ He looked suddenly alarmed. ‘I need you in the firm. You haven’t got a lover trying to take you away from us, have you?’

‘No, I leave that kind of thing to you,’ she teased. ‘I’m pursuing business. I met a well-known architect in Italy, and he’s invited me to the opening of a church he’s just finished restoring.’

‘Drago di Luca,’ Brian mused, looking at the card. ‘I’ve heard of him. Even in this country he’s beginning to be talked about. Well done. If he accepts commissions over here, his business could be valuable.’

She murmured a reply and escaped. He could think she was making a cool move, but the truth was she felt anything but cool.

Drago’s chauffeur was waiting to help her at the airport, smiling as he recognised her and took her bags, and handing her an envelope as she got into the car. As he drove her to the same hotel where she’d stayed last time, she opened it and read:

I would have liked to meet you myself but I’m drowning in formalities. You will wish some time alone this afternoon to rest, and a car will collect you at six o’clock and bring you to my home for dinner. Tina is very much looking forward to seeing you again. And so am I.

Once at the hotel, a shower refreshed her so that she had no need of rest. She wanted to go out and see Florence in the sunshine. It was high summer and everything was different, bathed in sunlight. It was hard to believe that this was the same place she’d seen in February, when the cold and damp had seemed to seep into her bones, and become one with her sadness.

Walking down by the river, she watched the light glinting on the water, and was suddenly assailed by a feeling of irrational joy. She tried to be rational. After all, it was only sun. But she didn’t want to be rational. She wanted to rejoice in the light and let her steps take her where they would.

At first she thought she was wandering aimlessly, but then she admitted the truth-that she was heading for the apartment where James and Carlotta had briefly lived. She found it easily, and it was looking more cheerful now than it had done in winter. From inside came the sound of laughter, a man’s voice, then a woman’s, sounding young and happy.

The man might have been James if fate had been kinder to him. But it had not been kind, she thought, from the depths of her new-found peace.

Turning away, she walked on along the river until she came to the Ponte Vecchio, and went to stand before the statue of Cellini, where James and Carlotta had pledged their love with padlocks along with many others. But there were no padlocks there today. The railings that had once been covered with love tokens were stark and bare.

She heard a sigh and turned to see the proprietor of the shop who’d told her the significance of the padlocks, way back in February-a lifetime ago.

‘What’s happened to them all?’ she asked him. ‘Don’t lovers come here any more?’

‘They do when they dare,’ he said. ‘But the council has ruled against them. If you get caught hanging a padlock there’s a fine, and every now and then they clear them all away.’

‘That’s terrible!’

‘Yes, isn’t it? Ah well, it all brings me new business.’

‘But do people still buy padlocks if they can’t hang them?’

‘Who says they can’t? You don’t think lovers let a few fines put them off, do you? Every single one of them who hung a token there before will be back to hang another one. Good day.’

When he’d bustled away, Alysa stood looking at the bare railings.

‘Not every single one,’ she whispered. ‘I lost a great deal, but I didn’t lose everything. You lost everything, and I didn’t see it until now.’

Again she felt the stirring of pity, and suddenly she knew that there was another place she must see.

A few minutes in a taxi brought her to the Church of All Angels. Like everywhere else it was transformed by the sun, making even the graves look somehow cheerful, especially the monument to Carlotta di Luca, which glowed with a fresh delivery of flowers.

Red roses, Alysa noted: a silent message from Drago that she was still in his heart. She had often wondered if she’d done the right thing in taking the letter, sparing him that pain. Now she thought she had her answer.

At last she wandered over to the far corner where the unimportant graves lay, and there the illusion of cheer was dispelled.

The little slabs had received minimum care. Someone had cut the grass, but casually, so that a fringe of long grass surrounded every slab. Here there were no flowers or tributes. Only the bleakness of indifference. Suddenly James’s lonely end seemed intolerable.

It was very quiet in this corner. She stood looking up at the beauty of the sky, feeling the sun bless her as she had never thought to be blessed again. Overhead a bird began to sing.

‘I don’t hate you,’ she told him sadly. ‘How can I, when it all ended so sadly for you? I wish there was something I could-But perhaps there is. If only I knew how to go about it.’

Then a memory returned to her from the day she’d first come here in February-the young journalist talking about Drago, saying, ‘They say he has the ear of every important person in town, and he pulls strings whenever it suits him.’

Drago, the dear friend whose support had saved her: she could turn to him again. Suddenly decisive, she left the cemetery and hailed a taxi.

For a party in the elegant surroundings of the villa, she guessed that only grandeur would do, and accordingly chose a long dress of dark-blue satin. The neckline was modest for an evening gown, but the narrow waist hugged her figure, and the mirror showed an elegant woman.

A hairdresser from the hotel came to whip her newly grown locks into a confection on her head. A moment to fix the dainty diamond necklace about her neck, adjust a velvet wrap about her shoulders, a last check in the mirror, and it was time to go.

The car was there for her ten minutes early, and to make friendly conversation she congratulated the driver on his punctuality.

‘Signor di Luca came looking for me and demanded to know why I hadn’t gone yet,’ he said with a grin. ‘I told him I still have plenty of time, but he said, go now! So I did. It doesn’t do to argue with the boss.’

‘I gather he can be a real slave-driver,’ she laughed.

‘He’s been worse recently. It’s like the devil has got into him. Maybe it’s because he had to waste time in hospital. He hated that.’

It might be no more than that, Alysa thought. But she couldn’t help wondering if there might be something else. She would know when she saw him.

Elena was waiting for her on the step as the car drew up.

‘How charming to see you again,’ she said. ‘Drago is detained for the moment, but he’ll be down soon. Let me introduce you to Signorina Leona Alecco. Our families have been friends for years.’

Leona was in her late thirties, slightly heavily built, not pretty, but with an intelligent face that would have been better with less make-up. Her neckline was just too low for her build, and made Alysa glad that she had opted for caution in her own dress.

The same idea might have occurred to Leona, for she gave Alysa a shrewd look, taking in every detail of her glamorous appearance before becoming carefully blank-faced.

‘It’s just a small gathering tonight,’ Elena continued, ushering her inside. ‘Only family and friends. Tomorrow we’ll be inundated with businessmen and really important people.’

Just in case I delude myself that I’m important, Alysa thought wryly.

She took a glass of wine from the proffered tray and sipped it, looking around at the little gathering. Carlotta’s sister was there again, with her husband and children. Leona seemed practically one of the family. She herself was the only outsider.

But not for long. Tina had spotted her and came scurrying across the floor to seize her hands, beaming upwards as if Alysa was a dear friend.

‘Poppa said you were coming,’ she confided.

Alysa was touched. At their previous meeting she’d still been tormented by her own dead child, and had been unable to be at ease with the little girl. Yet Tina had seemed oblivious, offering her friendship then, and even more now. Alysa felt shamed by such open-hearted generosity. The smile she gave Tina was warm.

‘Who’s your friend?’ she asked, indicating a doll in an elaborate dress that Tina was carrying.

‘Aunt Leona gave it to me.’

‘She’s very pretty,’ Alysa said politely, but Tina pulled a face.

‘She’s too frilly,’ she complained. ‘I don’t like being frilly.’

‘I know what you mean,’ Alysa said at once. ‘I’ve never been frilly myself. I used to prefer making mud pies.’

They nodded in perfect empathy.

A noise made her turn around to see Drago just coming into the room. The others seized on him at once, giving her a moment to look without being seen in return.

For the first time she saw him dressed formally in a dinner jacket and black bow-tie, whose elegance had the perverse effect of making him seem taller and more powerful than she remembered. Now she could perceive him as other women did-a deeply attractive man, made even more attractive by a touch of harshness-except that she had seen past that veneer and knew how thin it was.

At last Drago looked up and saw her, and a slow smile spread over his face. There was a look of satisfaction in his eyes, as though his best hopes had come true, but there was also an astonished question: this is her?

Seeing that surprised admiration, she knew she’d been secretly hoping for just this. The months apart vanished. He was the same man who had supported her and leaned on her at the same time, and when he came across the floor with his hands outstretched she reached out to him.

‘I was afraid you wouldn’t come,’ he said softly.

‘And miss your moment of glory?’ she teased. ‘Never.’

He didn’t speak, but the pressure on her hands increased slightly.

‘At last you’re here,’ Elena’s voice broke in. ‘I thought you’d never join us.’

Drago released Alysa and turned to smile politely at Elena.

‘A potential client turned up without warning. I had to see him briefly, but I’ve put him off for a few days, so now we can have dinner. Shall we go in?’

‘Of course. You’re sitting next to Leona, and Tina is sitting next to me.’

‘I want to sit next to Alysa,’ Tina said at once, adding in a confiding voice, ‘She’s a guest.’

‘And you are her hostess,’ Drago said at once. ‘So of course you must sit beside her and look after her for me.’

Elena looked displeased but was unable to protest. Tina took Alysa’s hand and led her into the dining room, while Drago went unprotesting with Leona.

A suspicion was growing in Alysa’s mind, which was increased as she saw Leona seated firmly on Drago’s right. Elena regarded them both with the complacency of a match-maker who saw things working out.

She was deluding herself, Alysa thought. There was no sign of the lover in Drago’s manner to Leona. He was charming, considerate, but slightly detached. If Leona claimed his attention, he turned to her with a smile, but he seldom made the first move.

And yet, perhaps Elena knew what she was doing. Drago wasn’t in love, but he wouldn’t have been the first widower to marry a sensible woman to give his child a mother. An old family friend would be a logical choice, and help to keep Tina close to her grandmother.

But not this woman, Alysa mused. For reasons she couldn’t explain, she wasn’t sure that Leona was what he needed.

When the meal was under way, Tina confided, ‘I wanted to ask you about Poppa. You did look after him, didn’t you?’

‘I think I did. I tried. He looked after me too.’

‘Because you both had someone who died?’

‘Yes, just so.’

By the time the meal ended, Tina’s eyes were drooping, and Drago gently suggested that it was time for all the children to go to bed.

‘Leona and I will take care of that,’ Elena said at once. ‘Come, children, upstairs.’

Alysa leaned down so that Tina could give her a peck on the cheek. Then the child was whisked away by Elena.

‘Come with me,’ Drago said, taking Alysa’s arm.

He led her out onto a terrace at the back of the house, overlooking the moonlit garden.

‘Let me look at you,’ he said.

He held her away from him, surveying her, while she did the same-both silently asking how their previous encounter had changed them. Alysa held her breath, wondering what he would say. At last he spoke.

‘You’ve put on weight.’

‘What?’

‘Good. I like it. You were far too skinny before.’

Alysa burst out laughing. Trust him to say something no other man would have said.

‘All right,’ he said hastily. ‘I’m not known for my tact.’

‘You amaze me.’

‘But I mean what I say. You were like a ghost before. Now you’re alive again.’

‘And what about you? Are you alive again?’

‘In some ways, not in all. I have so much to tell you, my dear friend.’

‘And I have things to tell you,’ she said eagerly. ‘You said I looked alive again, and I’m almost there, but there’s still something I need badly and you’re the only person who can help me.’

His eyes grew warmer and he seized her hands.

‘But of course I’ll help you-anything you ask. Who knows you better than I? Tell me now, what it is that you need?’

But before she could speak there was a call of, ‘Drago,’ and they looked back at the house to see Leona waving to him.

‘Elena wants to talk to you,’ she said.

‘Will you be kind enough to tell her that I’ll return in a moment?’ he said.

‘I think she wants you now. She says you’re neglecting your guests.’

Drago groaned softly.

‘You’d better go,’ Alysa said.

‘Yes, I suppose I must, but we must talk before you leave.’

He drew her hand through his arm and they went in together, Leona watching them like a hawk.

For the rest of the evening Alysa stayed in the background. Her moment would come later. At last she murmured to him, ‘I should be going.’

‘Fine, I’ll drive you home,’ Drago said.

Elena started to protest that that was the chauffeur’s job, but Drago silenced her with a deadly smile.

‘I know I can rely on you to be the perfect hostess while I’m gone. Alysa, are you ready?’

When they were on the road, safely away from the house, he said through gritted teeth, ‘My mother-in-law!’ Then, when Alysa gave a soft chuckle, ‘Yes, I suppose you find it funny.’

‘Well, she’s so blatant about it. She’s very determined to marry you to Leona, isn’t she?’

‘You saw that too? I hoped it was just my imagination.’

‘It’s obvious. She’s like a general going into battle, with everything worked out.’

‘How dreadfully true. When I invited her for tomorrow’s ceremony, she somehow turned it into an invitation for Leona too.’

As they reached the outskirts of Florence, he said, ‘Let’s find somewhere to sit down and talk.’

He chose a small café in a side street and settled her in a corner where the light was poor and few people would notice them.

‘Is that why you invited me here?’ she asked. ‘To protect you from Leona?’

‘Not really, I just needed to see you. What happened seems so unreal. I wanted to be sure you really existed. But now you’re here I’m glad, because of Leona too. I don’t know what’s got into Elena.’

‘I suppose for her Leona would be the ideal choice because she wouldn’t try to separate her from Tina as another woman might.’

‘I gather they’ve got it all sorted. Don’t I get a say in this arrangement?’

‘Not much. After all, you might well decide to remarry for Tina’s sake.’

‘Never,’ he said fiercely. ‘Not just for Tina’s sake, and not-Well, anyway.’ He sighed. ‘I don’t want them choosing a wife for me. I rely on you to shield me from their intrigues.’

‘Don’t worry,’ she assured him. ‘I’m your best friend, and when the time comes I’ll take a hand in choosing your wife. Tina and I will line up the candidates, put them through a series of tests and mark them one to ten.’

He laughed. ‘Between you and her watching over me like a pair of guardian angels, I know I’ll be safe. As for you being my best friend…’

‘After all we went through together, don’t you think I am?’

‘I think-’ He paused, as if undecided what to say next. ‘I think we have a bond that will never be broken, and I want-Well, let’s leave that for later. I only wish I could spend more time with you during the celebrations.’

‘You have your duty to do, I know that.’

‘But, afterwards, will you come to the mountains with me?’

Her heart leapt. ‘I hoped you’d ask that.’

‘But don’t mention it to anyone else. As far as anyone knows, you’re going back to England.’

‘What do you take me for? I wasn’t going to confide in Elena, was I?’

He grinned. ‘No, I reckon you’re a match for her. By the way, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?’

‘It can wait. I’ll tell you when we’re in the mountains.’

‘Now I’d better get back home, heaven help me. The car will come for you tomorrow.’

Next day a convoy drove the ten miles to the church, where it disgorged a seemingly endless line of distinguished Florentines. Drago escorted them around the building, describing everything that had been done, and received their congratulations with calm pleasure, not seeming to be overwhelmed by them.

He was his own man, Alysa thought. He knew he’d done a fine job, and he needed nobody else to tell him so.

Tina slipped away from her grandmother and attached herself to Alysa, explaining everything like an expert. Elena tried to draw her back to the family group, but the little girl had her father’s stubbornness.

‘I have to look after Alysa,’ she explained firmly. ‘She has nobody of her own.’

She clung to Alysa’s hand until they were apart from the others.

‘You see up there?’ she said, pointing. ‘That’s where Poppa fell. He was terribly angry. He shouted at everyone.’

‘Even you?’

‘No, not me. Just everyone else. But he was better after you called. He told me about it.’

The ceremony was long and impressive. Several people rose to heap praise on Drago, which he received with a blank face that told her he was embarrassed.

Then it was time to return to the hotel so that she could prepare for the grand banquet that night. She had not managed to have a single word with Drago.

As she got into the car, Tina hugged her and asked anxiously, ‘You will come tonight, won’t you?’

Once the feel of those childish arms about her neck would have made her flinch. Now she hugged Tina back warmly.

‘Promise,’ she said.

In a sudden impulse she spent the afternoon shopping for a dress that was more daring than before, a soft-ivory chiffon that clung to her and emphasised her movements.

The villa was ablaze with lights as she joined the crowd streaming in later that evening. Drago stood there, greeting his guests with Elena on one side, and Leona on the other, as though her place in the villa was already assured. She greeted Alysa with lofty assurance, as did Elena, both women studying her attire suspiciously.

Drago studied it too, with a gleam in his eyes that won an answering smile.

Tina too was part of the reception line-up, but she slipped away to join Alysa, which won Drago’s look of warm approval.

‘Look what Poppa bought me,’ she said, showing Alysa a locket around her neck. Inside was a picture of Carlotta.

‘He said it was specially for today, because Mamma would have enjoyed this so much, and we must think of her.’

‘Does he speak of her much?’ Alysa asked.

‘Oh yes, especially when it’s her birthday-that was last week-and on my birthday, because she sends me presents. Well, it’s Poppa really, but he says it’s her, and I pretend to believe him ’cos otherwise he might be hurt.’

‘And you don’t want to hurt him, no matter what you have to do?’

Tina beamed at this understanding. ‘He pretends to be a bully, but he isn’t really. Just a big softy.’

‘And nobody knows him better than you, so I guess you’re right.’

‘Tina!’ It was Leona’s voice. ‘We are sitting down for dinner now. Come along.’

‘But I’ve got lots of things to show Alysa.’

‘Later,’ Alysa said. ‘Never keep your host waiting.’

‘Very true,’ Drago said from somewhere behind Leona, who turned to him.

As soon as her back was turned Tina seized the chance to stick her tongue out at her. Alysa hastily covered the child’s mouth, but not before Drago saw and gave a wide grin.

It was all over in seconds, and then they were marching sedately to the banqueting hall. But it left Alysa feeling exhilarated. Leona might have been seated in the place of honour by Drago, but it was with her that he had the shared understanding.

She saw another side of him that night-assured and businesslike. He even managed to be charming, although she guessed he was carefully negotiating three moves ahead in such unfamiliar territory.

After dinner there was dancing to the accompaniment of an orchestra. Drago danced with Leona, then with a series of wives, mostly indistinguishable from each other, while Alysa entertained herself with several gentlemen who all spoke perfect English and had commercial interests in England. She could therefore assure herself, with a clear conscience, that she was touting for business.

She would have liked to dance with Drago. Something told her that it would be very interesting. But her time would come.

As the evening drew to a close Elena spoke to her from lofty heights.

‘I hope you have really enjoyed your time here, signorina, and that you will return home with happy memories.’

Alysa made the polite response, and Elena immediately followed up with, ‘When exactly do you leave?’

‘I’ll be going tomorrow.’

‘How sad. We’re going to stay here for a few more days. It’s so seldom we can get the whole family together, and we simply must make the most of it.’

‘I’m afraid the family gathering will be without me,’ Drago put in. ‘The man I told you about-the one who turned up last night-wants me to look over a building to see if it’s worth renovating. I have to leave first thing tomorrow morning, and I’ll be gone for several days.’

Elena began to protest, but his smile was implacable.

‘Signora Dennis, let me escort you to the car,’ he said. ‘I only regret I am unable to drive you home myself.’

As she got into the waiting car, she said casually, ‘I wonder where this building is?’

‘You know quite well where it is,’ Drago replied. ‘Or have you forgotten what we agreed?’

‘Not a word. I’ll be waiting for you tomorrow. Now I’d better go quickly, before Elena does something desperate.’