The Wedding Arrangement

CHAPTER TWELVE

‘AND I tell you, you’ve got it wrong. You’re confusing him with someone else.’

‘The man I knew was called Gianni Pepino, he had a wife called Minerva and she was a lawyer in Rome.’

Luke poured himself a glass of brandy, and drained it in one gulp. Somewhere inside him an earthquake was taking place.

‘I don’t believe it,’ he murmured. ‘She adored him. She still does.’

‘Well, he certainly managed to pull the wool over her eyes,’ Franco said. ‘The girl is called Elsa Alessio, and the child is called Sandro. He got her pregnant when he was down here one summer, fooling around. He was only eighteen, and there was never any talk of marriage. She was older, a divorcee, and she had some money of her own.

‘From the way he talked, they weren’t in love or anything. They just had a fling and stayed friends. He used to come here to see her and the boy, then go back to Rome. After he got married he just kept on visiting her, chiefly to see his son and give her money-’

‘I thought you said she didn’t need money.’

‘She didn’t need to marry him, but a decent man supports his child, and maybe a little extra as a present for her.’

‘Bastardo!’ Luke said softly.

‘Why? Gianni loved his wife, and what happened before they married didn’t concern her.’

‘But he never told her.’

‘Of course he didn’t. Why hurt her for nothing?’

It was a point of view, Luke realised, with which a lot of men would sympathise. But he was conscious of a burning anger for Minnie’s sake.

‘How often did he visit her?’ he demanded.

Franco shrugged. ‘How do I know? But I had a friend who knew him better, and he said Gianni used to boast of those visits.’

‘Boast? How?’

Franco shrugged. ‘How do you think?’

‘Perhaps you should tell us, my son,’ Hope said quietly from the shadows.

Franco jumped. ‘Mamma. I didn’t know you were there.’

‘Evidently, or you wouldn’t be indulging in foolish, loose talk. Minnie was a guest under our roof. How dare you spread such stories?’

‘I didn’t invent it, Mamma. It’s true.’

‘How much is true? About the child? Perhaps.’

‘And he boasted that he could have Elsa whenever he wanted,’ Franco said.

‘And do you know that he was telling the truth? Does one believe every word that a boastful young man says? I don’t think so. Listen, my son, you are not to say another word of this matter. Rumours can hurt people, even when they are unfounded, and I would not have Minnie hurt for all the world. Please promise me that you’ll forget this and never repeat it.’

‘All right, Mamma. I promise.’

‘And you’d better keep that promise,’ Luke said, ‘or I’ll throttle you.’

‘I’ve forgotten everything I ever heard, I swear it.’

Looking sheepish, Franco kissed his mother’s cheek and departed, careful to avoid Luke’s eye.

Luke didn’t speak for a while after Franco left. He stood looking out over the terrace, brooding. ‘It can’t be true, can it?’ he asked at last.

‘He had the right names,’ Hope said. ‘It could be true about the child.’

‘Bastardo!’ Luke said again. ‘She thinks he was so wonderful, and all the time-’

‘But why are you angry?’ she asked him. ‘Surely this solves your problem?’

‘How do you mean?’

‘You wanted a way to drive him from her heart, and now you have it. Just tell her that the husband she idolised deceived her. Surely the simplest calculation should make that plain.’

‘I don’t like the word calculation,’ he growled.

‘It’s the one you’ve always lived by. I was merely speaking your own language.’

‘All right.’ He swung round. ‘Let’s say I tell her about this woman and child because I’ve calculated-’ he nearly spat the word ‘-that it will benefit me. But will it? It happened before he knew her, so where’s the betrayal?’

‘He went on seeing them when he came to Naples.’

‘As any decent man would, rather than abandon his child. He kept quiet so as not to hurt her, but that still makes Minnie the one he truly loved. If I want to destroy him in her eyes, I’ll need more than that.’

‘But he went on sleeping with this woman,’ Hope pointed out. ‘There is the betrayal. Tell Minnie that. Make her accept the truth. Then the road should be clear for you.’

In silence he turned and looked at her.

Minnie’s phone rang at exactly eleven o’clock.

‘I waited until now so as not to interrupt your work,’ Luke said.

‘I might be asleep by now,’ she pointed out.

‘You never were. We were usually still talking nonsense at this hour. Then you’d make the cocoa.’

She laughed, and they fell silent.

‘What are you doing now?’ he asked.

‘Just closing the books, then going to bed.’

Trying to put off the moment, she thought, because it’s so lonely without you.

‘You were supposed to be having some time off after that case collapsed,’ he reminded her. ‘You could have stayed here.’

‘No, I-I don’t think that would have been a good idea. There’s too much… Things get confused.’

‘Yes,’ he said, and she knew that he, too, was remembering their last meeting alone, when he’d railed at Gianni’s ghost.

‘What about you?’ she asked. ‘What are you doing?’

‘I went to the hospital with Mamma, for her to have a check-up. Everything’s fine. And my bandages have been removed.’

‘Is your arm better?’

‘Looking good. I’ll be back soon, driving you crazy.’

She thought, but didn’t say, When?

‘Franco’s going back to Los Angeles at the end of the week.’

So it would be at least the end of the week before he would return. She forced her voice to be bright and cheerful, saying, ‘I’m sure your mother wants him with her as much as possible before he vanishes again.’

‘She was thrilled with the card you sent her, by the way.’

‘She was so nice to me, I wanted to thank her, and wish her well.’

They talked for a few more minutes, saying nothing about the things that were really in their minds. When she had put the phone down the flat felt very quiet. It had always been quiet and lonely since Gianni died, but somehow this was different.

She took out his picture and settled down with it as she had done so often before.

‘What do I do now?’ she whispered. ‘You were always a fast talker-go on, tell me.’

The smile in his eyes was as charming as ever, but now something was missing. There had always been a gleam, inviting her into the loving conspiracy they shared. Now it seemed to be gone. It was just a flat photograph. She tried again.

‘I don’t know whether I’m coming or going. No man ever did that to me before, not even you. You came on to me the very first evening, and I always knew what you were thinking. But now-’

She waited, hoping for what had happened before, that out of her memories would rise one that gave her the answer. But there was nothing, and she realised that Gianni couldn’t help her with this.

In fact, there was no more help he could give her. The moment had been a long time coming, and she wasn’t quite sure when he’d finally slipped away from her. Closing her eyes now, all she could feel was Luke’s hand on her hair, and his whispered promise, ‘I’m here.’

She opened her eyes again. Gianni’s face was the same, unchanging, as it would always be now. She pressed her lips against the glass, realising finally how cold it was.

‘Thank you for everything,’ she whispered, ‘all the years-thank you, thank you, my love. And goodbye.’

She put the picture away in her desk, and turned the key in the lock.

Luke called her every day. The calls were always the same-cheerful, non-committal, cautious. It was as though they were both waiting for something to happen.

Netta remained obstinately smiling, refusing to admit that her plans had suffered a setback. Minnie even found her going through a magazine full of wedding dresses.

‘That one,’ she said, pointing to a slender, elegant creation.

‘I couldn’t wear that,’ Minnie said, outraged. ‘It’s bridal white, and I’m a widow.’

‘So, there’s a law against it?’ Netta snorted. ‘You wear what you like.’

‘Only if I’m getting married, and I’m not. I wish I could make you understand that.’

‘Pooh!’ Netta said. ‘It’s written in your stars. You marry in Santa Maria in Trastevere-’

‘Oh, so you’ve chosen the church as well as the dress! It’s a pity we don’t have a groom, but why be troubled by a detail?’

‘I take care of the church and the dress,’ Netta said. ‘But I leave the groom to you.’ She added, as a parting shot, ‘You’ve gotta do something for yourself.’

Minnie glared but, since Netta took no notice whatever, she had no recourse but to depart and head back to her own home.

There was a man on the staircase, looking up and down and around, clearly lost.

‘Can I help you?’ Minnie asked.

He turned, smiling. Something in that smile sent a frisson of alarm through her, although she couldn’t, at that moment, have said why.

Ten minutes later she knew the worst, and was running down the stairs to find her car and head out of Rome, hell-bent for Naples.

The family had been to see Franco off at the airport, and had enjoyed a good dinner on their return home. Now the Villa Rinucci was closing down for the night, and Luke and his mother were taking a last walk around the garden.

‘It’s been wonderful to see Franco,’ Hope said wistfully, ‘but it’s probably a good thing if he’s not around while you’re sorting things out with Minnie.’

‘Yes, he knows too much,’ Luke agreed wryly.

‘Have you decided yet what you’re going to tell her?’

‘No, I have no idea.’

‘It’s been nearly a week. I don’t recall when I’ve seen you so indecisive.’

‘I keep thinking it’s simple. I’ll tell her, because I can’t live out the future keeping such a secret from her. But then I think what it will do to her, and I know I can never say anything.’

‘Even if it means living with Saint Gianni for ever? Could you do that?’

‘I don’t know.’ He added lightly, ‘I suppose, if we’re married, it’s always possible that she might turn her thoughts to me occasionally. I’m not asking for miracles, but, hey-it might happen.’

She laughed and patted his arm. ‘You’re becoming a realist, my son.’

They had reached the front of the house and he stopped, looking down the hill to where he could see moving lights.

‘What is it?’ Hope asked.

‘Someone’s heading towards us at a great rate.’

They watched the fast moving lights winding up the hill until Luke said, ‘Surely, that’s Minnie’s car?’

‘I think it is,’ Hope said, unable to keep the pleasure and excitement out of her voice.

The car came to a halt with a screech and Minnie was out in a moment, slamming the door behind her and advancing on Luke with a face of doom. The lamps showed tears glistening on her face.

‘You!’ she said, pointing at him. ‘I knew it! I knew it! I should never have trusted you from the first moment, but you made me feel sorry for you and I swear I’ll never feel sorry for anyone again as long as I live. I trusted you, more fool me!’

Luke finally got his breath. ‘Minnie, will you please tell me what this is all about?’

‘I’ll tell you in two words,’ she raged. ‘Eduardo Viccini!’

His groan and the way he closed his eyes in despair told her all she needed to know.

‘You do know the man I’m talking about, don’t you?’ she snapped.

‘Yes, I know. I gather you’ve met him.’

‘Yes, I’ve met him. He came looking for you today and said some very interesting things. You should have been more careful, Luke. You should have warned him that I knew nothing about the interesting little scheme the two of you had cooked up. You lying, treacherous, two-faced-’

She broke off as more tears came, furiously brushing them away, trying to deny them, but unable to stop because she felt as though something was crushing her heart.

‘Minnie-’ He reached out to her but she flung his hand aside.

‘Don’t come near me.’

‘Look, I’m sorry you met him like that-’

‘You’re sorry I met him at all. At least, you are if you’ve got any sense. I wasn’t supposed to find out that you were planning to betray the lot of us until it was too late, was I?’

There was careful movement inside the house as the sounds of altercation brought the rest of the family to doors and windows, but silently. Nobody wanted to miss this, certainly not Primo and Olympia, who stood, arms entwined, watching the last act of a drama that was partly their own. Hope melted softly into the shadows.

‘I have not betrayed you,’ Luke said. ‘Any of you.’

‘Oh, I suppose it isn’t betrayal to sell out to a development company-’

‘I haven’t-’

‘Don’t lie to me,’ she cried. ‘You’ll be telling me next that you’ve never heard of Allerio Proprieta.’

‘I’ve done more than heard of it. I formed it. Allerio Proprieta is me, with some backing from Eduardo Viccini. I’m the boss but I need his finance. What I’m planning is going to be expensive.’

‘I’ll bet it is, starting with clearing the whole lot of us out.’

‘No, I swear it. Everyone who wants to stay is safe. You’ve said yourself that I can’t force anyone out, and I’m not trying to. Offering them sweeteners is another matter.’

‘You admit it?’

‘I don’t admit anything,’ Luke said, ‘because I’ve done nothing wrong. If a man has something I want I’ll offer him a fair price for it. He’s free to say no, and if he does he’ll get no trouble from me. If he says yes, it’s because he’s gaining something, and that is fair exchange.’

‘Some of them are leaving already. You must have worked damned hard to bring that about.’

‘You mean Mario in number eight? He’s been offered a good job on the other side of Rome and he wants to live close to it. It’s a promotion, so he can afford a bigger home, which is fine because his wife is pregnant.’

‘And I suppose it’s coincidence that he was offered that job now?’

‘Coincidence, nothing! Eduardo knows someone who’s always looking for people with Mario’s skills. Their meeting was a success, and now Mario has the job of his dreams. Do you think he feels ill-used? I promise you he doesn’t.’

While she tried to find an answer to this, Luke went on, ‘What about the couple in number twenty-three? They want to stop renting and buy, but they haven’t got the deposit for the place they want. Or rather, they didn’t have.’

‘And you gave it to them?’

‘No, I’m not Santa Claus, it’s an interest free loan, and now they’re happy as skylarks. If you don’t believe me, ask them.

‘I could give you a dozen other cases. They’re not all attached to the Residenza as we are. For them it’s just a place to live for a while, then pass on. I’m just making it easy for them to do that.’

‘And what about my family?’

‘They’ll stay. Anyone who wants to can stay, but plenty will leave, willingly, and I can start work, making it a smart place to live.’

She was silent, confused and troubled. One thing he’d said was flashing in her mind.

‘What do you mean, we?’ she asked.

‘We?’

‘You said, “They’re not all attached to the Residenza as we are.” We?’

‘Yes, I love it. I plan to live there. That’s why Pietro is moving out of the flat next to mine, and into a small one lower down. Boy, did that cost me! I need both those flats so that I can knock them into one and have a place that’s big enough for two people.’

‘For-two?’

‘Yes, I don’t think that you and I can live in your present home. Better to make a fresh start in our own place.’

‘Whoa, you’re going too fast for me. Who said we were going to live together?’

Luke drew a deep breath. ‘Well, people who marry usually do that.’

‘And who said we were going to get married?’

‘Netta said it. And Charlie said it, and Tomaso said it, and every single person in your family said it. But they only said it because Netta said it first. Now I’m saying it. It only needs you to say it, and everybody’s said it.’

‘Wait a minute!’ She held up a hand to stop him. ‘Are you proposing that we get married just because Netta’s given her orders?’

‘Why not? Your mother-in-law is exactly like my mother. People do what she says, sooner or later. Face it, Minnie! Netta had it sorted on the first day, so we may as well give in now.’

She stared at him, aghast.

‘And that’s a proposal is it? That’s the great romantic proposal?’

‘Well, I’m not at my best in front of an audience,’ he said, jerking his head to include the crowd standing behind him, grinning now and relishing every moment.

‘You-you’ve got a nerve-you dare-’

‘I’m just doing as I’m told. You know I’m right about Netta. It wouldn’t surprise me if she’s actually decided on the church. She’s probably even picked your wedding dress. What is it?’

Minnie had gasped and clapped her hands over her mouth.

‘Minnie-what is it?’

She couldn’t answer. The eerie accuracy of his prediction had taken her breath away. It was as though fate had tapped her on the shoulder and said, This way!

‘Santa Maria in Trastevere,’ she whispered.

‘Is that the church where we’re marrying?’

‘Netta says so.’

‘Has she fixed the date?’

‘Probably-Luke!’

‘Come here,’ he said fiercely, and pulled her towards him.

In the long, long kiss that followed the rest of the Rinucci family emerged slowly and quietly, until they were standing on the porch, watching with pleasure the two who were embracing in the patch of light below. Only Hope stood a little apart, holding her breath for the issue that she knew was still to be resolved.

‘How could you think I’d stoop so low?’ he asked when he finally released her.

‘I don’t know, but it was the worst thing that ever happened to me. I trusted you.’

‘That’s not what you used to say,’ he said wryly.

‘Not to your face, maybe, but I always knew you were decent and honest, no matter how many insults I hurled at you. And then, when I thought you’d cheated us-it was as though the central pillar of the world had cracked. Until then, I didn’t know how much I minded. Luke, don’t you understand, it’s the most terrible thing that can happen, to trust someone you love and then find out they were betraying you?’

‘Yes,’ he said softly. ‘I do understand that. And that’s why-’ he was holding her hands tightly ‘-there’s something I have to say to you, and I want you to listen well, because it’s important.’

‘Yes?’ She was looking at him with shining eyes.

‘I told you once that I’d never make love to you until I came first.’

‘But you do come first-in my heart-in my whole life-’

‘First among the living, but I wanted to drive out his ghost.’

‘Luke-’

‘It’s all right; let me finish. I wanted to get rid of Gianni, but I was being selfish. I was jealous of him. He gave you ten years of happiness, and who knows if I can measure up to that? I guess I just didn’t like the competition, so I wanted to deprive you of the sweetest memories you have, all to suit my convenience.

‘Try to forgive me for that, because I see more clearly now. One love doesn’t drive out another. Nor should it. Keep your ghost, my darling. Keep him and go right on loving him as he deserved. I dare say I can manage to live in a threesome.’

Every eye was fixed on them. Nobody noticed that Hope’s face was transformed by a smile of pride in her son.

Minnie looked intently at Luke. ‘Do you have anything else to say?’

‘Nothing.’

‘Does that mean you’re not going to tell me?’

‘Tell you what?’

‘About Elsa Alessio,’ she said simply.

He stared, truly shocked.

‘What do you know about that?’

‘I know that she’s a woman in Naples who bore Gianni’s son, years ago, before he met me. He used to see them when he drove his truck down here. He was a good father, but I was the one he loved.’

‘He told you-everything?’ he asked, hardly daring to believe.

‘Of course he did. We loved each other. He wouldn’t have deceived me. He told me everything that I needed to know,’ she added with a slightly ambiguous phrasing that he didn’t notice until later.

He could hardly believe that he’d been let off the hook. Or at least, almost. There was still one tiny hook.

It was on the tip of his tongue to ask if she believed Gianni had been faithful to her on those visits to Elsa. Did she know that he had boasted otherwise?

But the next moment he knew that this was a secret he must keep. Who could tell if such boasts had been true, or even if he’d said any such thing? And, without certainty, he had no right to speak.

And if the worst was true, and she had to learn it one day, he would prepare for that day by making her so happy in their marriage that nothing from the past could touch her.

That was the resolve he made to himself, that he would keep in secret and never speak of to her as long as they both lived.

‘Would you really move to Rome, for me?’ she asked in wonder.

‘I can extend my business there, and become a sleeping partner in the Naples factories. I’ll enjoy the challenge of new territories. You can’t leave your practice. You’ve built it up in Rome.’

‘And you’re not jealous of it?’ There was an old anxiety in her voice.

‘I swear I’ll never be jealous. Or at least, if I am,’ he added with a touch of humour, ‘I’ll keep it decently to myself.’

She reached up and took his head between her hands, searching his face.

‘When I thought I’d lost you, it was the end of the world for me. I love you so much; without you there’s nothing.’

‘Don’t say it unless you’re completely sure,’ he said anxiously.

‘Completely, totally, utterly sure. I thought I could never love any other man again, but I was only waiting for you. I didn’t want to believe it-I got so mad at you-’

‘Yes, I know that,’ he said with a laugh that sounded shaky because relief and happiness were making him weak. ‘I tried to get mad at you, but I could barely manage it, and I could never stay mad for five minutes. You used to look at me in that way you have, and then-I don’t know-things happened to me.’

‘I think it’s time something happened now,’ she murmured, tightening her hands on his head.

In the long kiss that followed they could hear the sound of soft cheering from the shadows.

‘My family are just loving this,’ he murmured.

Then he was silent, holding her fiercely against him, as though afraid to risk her slipping away, kissing her again and again.

‘Do I hear applause?’ she murmured.

‘Probably. The Rinuccis are like the Pepinos. Love and marriage concern everyone. All those things they heard me say once, about keeping control of my life, being cautious, even in love-what a laugh I’m giving them now! But I don’t care. Let them laugh, because I’m the winner. Carissima, I don’t want to keep control of my life any longer. I want you to have it. Take it, and keep me safe.’

‘There’s something I want you to know,’ she said earnestly.

‘What is it, my love?’

‘I said goodbye to Gianni yesterday, finally and for good. He understands.’

It was said afterwards that the meeting of Netta Pepino and Hope Rinucci was like the meeting of monarchs. An official visit was made from Naples to Rome, and the Rinuccis were ceremonially entertained.

Hope and Netta inspected the two flats that were being knocked into one and pronounced themselves satisfied.

‘You have done the right thing in choosing to live in Rome,’ Hope told him privately later. They were standing at the window in Netta’s front room, eating her delicious home-made cake. ‘Franco will be home soon, and it’s best not to risk him saying a word out of turn.’

‘I nearly said it myself,’ he observed.

‘Oh, no,’ Hope said fondly. ‘You were never going to tell her anything.’

‘You can’t be sure of that.’

‘Certainly I’m sure. You love her far too much to hurt her. I always knew that. But I wasn’t sure that you knew.’

‘I didn’t know, until I was faced with the choice. Then I realised there was no choice. There never had been. But you-all that stuff you were handing me about calculating how to get what I wanted-’

‘My son, I knew you wouldn’t actually do it. I know you better than you know yourself.’

Toni, who’d been standing behind them for the last minute, observed, ‘Even so, I think he can still surprise you.’

‘How do you mean, caro?’

‘Tell her, Luke.’

‘Years ago Toni offered me the chance to become a Rinucci, and I turned it down because there was still a lot about families that I didn’t understand. An hour ago I asked him if the offer was still open.’

‘And I told him it was,’ Toni said.

He was right. Hope was taken utterly by surprise. Her eyes filled with tears of joy and she embraced the son who had finally decided to come in from the cold.

The only person not pleased by this arrangement was Netta.

‘Better you change your name to Pepino,’ she advised him. ‘Then you’ll be descended from an emperor.’

Laughing, Luke vetoed the idea, but Netta had her own way in everything else. Minnie wore the slim white dress and veil for her wedding in Santa Maria in Trastevere, and afterwards she and her groom went in a horse-drawn carriage through the streets to the Residenza, where the reception was to be held in the courtyard.

The carriage took the long way round, for the sake of all her neighbours who wanted to see her, and by the time it reached home the families had contrived to get there first, climbing the stairs, hung with fresh white flowers, until they lined the inner surface of the courtyard, almost to the sky.

Netta and Hope, two queens, led the cheers that broke out as they appeared under the arch into the courtyard, and when hundreds of white petals showered down on the bride and groom as they stood gazing upwards in wonder, it was they who threw the first and the last, and they who cheered, laughed and wept the longest.