Wedding in Venice

Chapter Nineteen

Justine's flight was at noon the next day. At ten, while she was finishing packing, Liza looked into her room to say, "The boat is here for you."

The old woman bid her an affectionate goodbye, not hiding her disappointment that Justine was leaving Riccardo. The count also embraced her exuberantly, and escorted her out to the landing stage, where his staff had already piled Justine's bags into the motorboat.

She gave them both a last kiss and, turning, put out her hand for the boatman to help her aboard.

"Buon giorno!" Riccardo said.

"You?"

She felt a flash of dismay. They'd said their goodbyes last night, devastated and defeated on her side, quiet and strangely resigned on his. Why couldn't he leave it there?

But in the same moment she knew she hadn't wanted him to do that, and the greater pain would be to leave without seeing him again.

His hand tightened over hers and he drew her into the boat. When he had seen her seated he swung away down the Grand Canal, then across the lagoon to the airport, reversing the journey of the first day.

But something was different this time. Suddenly the engine spluttered and died.

"We seem to have a problem," Riccardo said.

"I don't believe it," Justine said, jumping up and coming to stand beside him. "There's nothing wrong with that engine."

He shrugged. "Let's just say there are things I want to say before you leave. You may ignore them. You probably will. But I can't let you go without saying them."

Before he could say more, a large wave made the boat rock, knocking her off balance so that she had to cling to him. He was as steady as a rock.

"You see?" he said. "The boat lurches but we don't fall because we cling to each other."

"Pretty words, but only words," she said desperately. "You were right when you said that I don't trust love. How can you trust something that's built on such shifting foundations?"

Riccardo's answer astonished her.

"What's wrong with shifting foundations?"

She stared. "Everything's wrong with them. You can't use them to build something that will last."

"You can say that after what you saw yesterday, when we had to wade through high tide? You're wrong, and Venice is the proof that you're wrong. No city was ever built on shakier foundations than this one.

"A thousand years ago our ancestors fled into the tiny islands of the lagoon to escape the barbarians. Here they thrust wooden stakes down into the mud and built a city on top of those stakes that has been the glory of the world.

"You've heard that Venice is sinking, and yesterday you saw it for yourself. She's been sinking for centuries, but she's still here. Why? Because those of us who love her fight and struggle to keep her afloat.

"Does the lagoon flood? We'll build barriers. Does the humid air rot the pictures? We'll restore them. We never stop patching the old girl up, and she's still with us."

"But love isn't like that -"

"Love is exactly like that. People change all the time, because life alters them. The man and woman who fall in love are not the same people they will be when their first child is born, then their first grandchild.

"If the love lasts it's because they've struggled and adjusted to the endless changes. When the foundations move, they move with them, and so the love survives. It alters. After many years it looks different, but it's still there, and it's still love. Don't you see?"

"Yes," she said sadly. "I do see. And you're right."

"Well then -"

"My darling, please try to understand. I see everything you want me to see. But I can't do it."

Silence. Only the lapping of the water against the boat. His face was sadder than any human being's she had ever seen.

At last he released her and started the engine again. Soon they were skimming across the water. Gradually the airport came into sight, growing larger every moment, until he slowed and eased into the jetty.

In a few minutes she would be gone, and everything would be over. Her heart was breaking, but she had no idea how to stop what was happening.