The Italian’s Rightful Bride (11 page)

‘No, it isn't,' she said indignantly. ‘I thought we'd have more to say than this.'

‘Yes, we must talk, but not here and now. Later there are things I must say to you.'

Her temper flared. ‘Perhaps you need not bother. I'm beginning to think it's all been said.'

‘Joanna—'

She heard the plea in his voice but was too angry to heed it.

‘All right, gang,' she said brightly, approaching them. ‘Let's get to work. Billy, what are you doing?'

‘Renata and me are going riding with Luca,' he said, and she nodded, satisfied. Luca was the head groom, and reliable.

After that she gave all her attention to her work. Hal had discovered a hollow sound in one of the foundation walls, suggesting a hidden chamber behind it. Everyone was excited. By concentrating hard she was able to push thoughts of Gustavo aside, until Hal said, ‘Look who's here.'

Gustavo was standing just outside the tent and he glanced aside, indicating for her to come out and join him. As she stepped into the sun he began to walk away.

‘I have to talk to you,' he said. ‘I've been doing a lot of thinking and there are things—I wasn't sure whether to tell you this, how you'd react—'

A deep apprehension was growing in her. ‘Is this something you ought to have told me before last night?' she asked calmly.

‘Yes,' he said after a moment. ‘I think perhaps I should have done that.'

‘Well, better late than never,' she said, smiling to cover her feelings.

‘I'm so afraid that you'll misunderstand, and think I behaved badly.'

‘Did you?'

‘In a manner of speaking,' he sighed. ‘I should have thought before—when I saw Crystal last night—'

He stopped because a distant sound was rapidly growing nearer.

‘What's that?'

‘It sounds like someone galloping hell for leather,' Joanna said, looking into the distance.

The next moment a horse came into view, ridden by Luca, the groom who had accompanied Renata and Billy that morning. Now he was alone.

Gustavo drew a sharp breath and ran towards him, followed by Joanna. As they hurried across the grass she asked, ‘Why is he alone? Where are the children? Oh, God—'

‘What's happened?' Gustavo called as Luca reached them.

‘An accident—' he said breathlessly.

‘Billy!'
Joanna cried.

‘No, no, it's the little girl. She fell. I think her shoulder is hurt. Billy is fine, but he has stayed to comfort her.'

‘Where?' Gustavo rapped out.

Luca described the place and Gustavo strode off to his car, pulling out his cellphone to call an ambulance as he went. Joanna got in with him and they were on their way, with Luca in the back.

‘Her head,' Gustavo snapped over his shoulder. ‘Is her head injured?'

‘I don't think so,
signor
,' said the wretched Luca. ‘Just her shoulder.'

‘Are you sure Billy isn't hurt?' Joanna urged.

‘He didn't fall, I swear it,' Luca insisted.

At last the place came in sight, near a stream. There were a few trees, one of which had come down and lay on the ground. Renata, supported by Billy, was sitting up, holding her arm and sobbing.

‘Piccina…'
Gustavo dropped on his knees beside his daughter. ‘It's all right. Papa's here.'

He reached out to her but then drew his hands back, afraid of hurting her.

‘I'm here,
cara
,' he said again.

But his presence brought her no comfort. Instead she leaned against Billy, wailing, ‘Mamma!
Mamma!
'

Gustavo got to his feet and turned away.

‘I hope the ambulance won't take long,' he said in a carefully controlled voice. It gave no hint of his feelings, but she knew, without words, and placed a hand on his arm.

‘Every child wants her mother at a time like this,' she said. ‘Surely she'll come now?'

‘You're right,' he said curtly, and began to make another call. But after a moment he hung up and said in frustration, ‘Her phone is switched off.'

‘What about her home telephone?'

‘I don't know her number now she's moved back to Rome. I'll have to call her lawyer— Thank God! There's the ambulance.'

‘Can't we come to the hospital with you?'

‘Thank you, but no.'

She understood. He wanted to be alone with Renata, and seize the chance to grow closer to her.

She felt stunned by the suddenness of events. There was nothing for her to do but watch as the ambulance arrived and departed a few minutes later.

‘Are you sure you're all right?' she said to Billy.

‘I'm fine, Mum.'

‘I'll drive you back to the dig,' Luca said.

She'd thought that Gustavo might call her with news, but hours passed with no word from him. Then, in the late afternoon, a taxi drew up, and Gustavo and Renata
got out. He carried her up the steps in his arms, and Joanna saw that she seemed to be asleep.

‘Just a broken arm,' he told Joanna and Laura. ‘They didn't even want to keep her in overnight. They gave her a light anaesthetic and she's still a bit dopey, so she needs to go straight to bed.'

‘I'll take her,' Laura said, reaching out.

‘No, I'll carry her up,' he said.

Joanna went up the stairs ahead of him, reaching Renata's room first, opening the door and waiting as he walked slowly along the corridor. She had a glimpse of his face as he looked down at his child, and saw there everything he dreaded the world knowing, his shattering love for his child and his heartbreak at her rejection.

‘I'll help you undress her,' she told Laura as Gustavo laid Renata on the bed.

‘I'll wait outside,' he said.

Renata remained drowsy until almost the last minute, but then she awoke suddenly and began to cry.

‘Mamma,' she wept. ‘Mamma, Mamma.'

Joanna opened the door. ‘Did you manage to contact Crystal?'

‘No. I got her new address from the lawyer but when I call I get the answerphone.'

He went to the bed and tried to take his daughter in his arms, but she pushed him away with her one good arm, then buried her face in the pillow and sobbed.

‘Renata,
carissima
,' he begged, stroking her hair. ‘Please—'

‘I want Mamma.'

Suddenly a thought came to Joanna, so startling that she moved away to the window, where Gustavo couldn't see her face.

This might be the thing that would bring Crystal back,
perhaps permanently. Was that what Gustavo secretly wanted, both to save himself from ruin and for the little girl's sake?

She tried to resist the idea, but she knew it would explain his uneasiness about last night. And what else could explain it?

But it wouldn't happen, she assured herself, because Crystal would never willingly return.

She went back to the bed where Gustavo was still sitting, his head bent in anguish at his inability to comfort his daughter. Renata's cries had gone beyond words. The noise that came from her now was a soft wail of endless despair.

Joanna took a deep breath. There was no decision to make. It had already been made by forces beyond her control.

‘Gustavo,' she said, ‘you've got to get Crystal. I don't care what it takes but get her here.'

He met her eyes for just a moment. ‘You're right,' he said briefly.

For a moment she thought he would kiss Renata, but he stopped himself, looking at her sadly. Then he left.

Joanna stood at the window and watched him drive away, wondering what she had done, and how it would turn out. But there'd been no alternative. She knew that.

O
VER
supper Billy told her and Freddy everything.

‘There was this fallen tree, Mum, and she said she could jump it. Luca told her not to but she wouldn't listen.'

‘Women don't,' Freddy said wisely, and they exchanged nods, man to man.

‘Anyway, she jumped and fell off as the horse landed. It was really scary. I thought she'd broken her neck.'

‘No, just her arm,' Joanna said. ‘But you're a hero, staying with her like that.'

‘She kept talking about her mum, saying she'd come and take her away now. Then she'd cry even more.'

‘I expect that arm hurts a lot,' Freddy observed.

‘No, it's more than that,' Billy insisted. ‘Even before this, she talks about her mother wanting her, and then she cries. I think she knows it's not true. She won't admit it, but part of her is beginning to suspect.'

‘Well, her mother's coming now,' Joanna said. ‘It may all work out for them. Isn't it your bedtime?'

Billy assumed a mulish look, but Freddy clapped him on the back and said, ‘Come on. Let's finish that talk we were having.'

They went off together.

It was late at night before Gustavo returned. At first Joanna thought he was alone, but then he opened the rear door and Crystal climbed out. Even from this distance Joanna could see that she was in a thunderous sulk. She
saw Gustavo point towards the house, then take her arm firmly to draw her inside.

Joanna opened the door to see them approaching and stood back while Crystal approached the child, who, by now, had fallen asleep. She sat on the bed and gave her a little shake. Renata's eyes opened. She gave a glad cry at the sight of her mother's face, and the next moment they were locked in each other's arms.

Joanna could just make out the words Crystal was murmuring, words of motherly love and reassurance. She gave Gustavo a puzzled look, and he drew her out into the corridor.

‘She does it beautifully, doesn't she?' he said. ‘You wouldn't think I practically had to frogmarch her into the car. Now she'll play the role of the loving mother until it bores her, then she'll go again, leaving me to pick up the pieces.'

‘What's happening to her other child?'

‘Safe in the apartment with Elena, his nanny.'

‘So Crystal tried not to come?'

‘Yes, but I persuaded her,' he said, his eyes glinting. ‘I also persuaded her to bring some clothes because she's going to stay a few days, whether she likes it or not.'

His face was hard, forbidding. Joanna would have given a lot to know his thoughts, but she suddenly realised that in this family quarrel she was an outsider.

‘I have things to get on with,' she said heavily. ‘I hope this all works out as you want.'

For a few days she kept well clear of the family, eating at the dig and working late into the evening, determinedly keeping her thoughts on her work. She refused to speculate on what might be happening between Gustavo and Crystal. That way lay madness.

She came inside late one night to hear music coming
from the radio. Through an open door she could just make out Crystal swaying in the dance. So she and Gustavo had reached that stage, she thought.

But it was Freddy, not Gustavo, who was dancing with Crystal. They moved in perfect time together and looked good, Joanna had to admit. Gustavo was sitting at a table, writing. He looked up and saw Joanna standing in the doorway.

‘Come in and join us,' he said, with a touch of relief in his voice. ‘I'll have something sent in.'

He rang the bell and a cold supper appeared so quickly that it was clear it had been already waiting.

‘I'll just run upstairs…' she said, eyeing the food with pleasure.

‘No need,' Freddy said, emerging from the dance. ‘Billy's fast asleep. We swam for miles.'

‘Oh, yes,' she said, remembering. ‘There's a swimming pool in the grounds, isn't there?'

‘I've had it cleaned out,' Gustavo said, bringing her a glass of wine. ‘You're all welcome to use it. A day off in the pool would probably do your team good.'

‘Thank you. Yes, I think we'd like that.'

She sipped her wine before asking, ‘How is Renata?'

‘Doing well,' Gustavo said quietly.

‘She's so much better,' Crystal said sweetly. ‘I took her to the pool and she paddled in the shallow end. The poor little soul wanted to go in with Freddy and Billy, but she can't, because of her arm.'

‘But I'm sure she was happy sitting on the side with you,' Joanna said. ‘It means so much to her to have you here.'

‘But of course,' Crystal said prettily. ‘Nobody can replace a mother, can they?'

More music came from the radio and she began twirl
ing around the room again, looking gloriously pretty and several years younger than her real age. Freddy joined her and they bounded around like teenagers.

Joanna finished her supper, bid them goodnight and went to the library, where most of the others were still up. They looked tired and disgruntled.

‘I thought we'd be through the wall into that chamber by now,' Lily grumbled.

‘The wall's twice as thick as the others,' Claire said.

‘I know.' Joanna flexed her hands, which were still painful from the day's work. ‘But we'll be through soon, won't we, Hal? Hal?'

‘He's been asleep in that chair for the last hour,' Danny said. ‘And we're all knackered.'

‘Fine, then let's have some time off. There's a swimming pool here and we're all invited to spend the day in it.'

Everyone cheered, even Hal, who seemed to cheer in his sleep.

‘Tomorrow, then,' Joanna said.

They gathered at the pool next day, all giving yells of delight as the clear blue water came into sight, glinting under the sun. In minutes they were all jumping in.

Joanna tried not to look as Gustavo appeared with Crystal and Renata, both in bathing suits. They seemed like a family, which, in a sense, they were. Just as she, Freddy and Billy were.

Billy was already in the deep end, crowing as he climbed onto Freddy's shoulders and dived. But he swam the length of the pool when he saw Renata arrive and sit at the top of the steps that led down into the shallow end. Joanna stayed where she was, in earshot.

Crystal and Renata had their heads together, and
Joanna heard the word ‘Toni' several times, and saw Renata smile at the mention of her baby half-brother.

‘Look,' Crystal said, reaching into her bag and taking out a photo album. ‘Joanna, you haven't seen my baby, have you?'

He was a beautiful child, full of smiles. Picture after picture showed him beaming with delight, mostly enfolded in his mother's arms, while she looked down on him with an expression of delight.

‘I keep these with me always,' she told Joanna.

‘Hey, Crystal!' That was Freddy's voice, calling from the pool. Crystal gave a shriek and danced into the water.

As soon as she was gone Renata dived into her bag, rummaging through with hands that grew increasingly frantic, until at last she gave up and pushed the bag aside.

‘What's the matter?' Gustavo came close to ask her.

‘She's just discovered that Crystal doesn't keep any pictures of her, the way she does of Toni,' Joanna muttered. ‘Damn her!'

Gustavo swore under his breath and went to sit beside Renata. For once she didn't turn away from him, and Joanna guessed that Crystal's presence now made him one of the ‘good guys'. She even gave him a smile, although it was clearly an effort, and Joanna guessed that Billy's presence helped.

She swam down the pool to find Freddy, and join him in a sandwich from the buffet Gustavo had arranged at the side of the pool.

‘This is the life,' he said, stretched out luxuriously on the grass while she filled his glass with wine. ‘How can I arrange to live like this all the time?'

‘What you need is another rich wife,' she observed, without resentment.

‘Ah, now, that's not fair,' he protested. ‘I was nuts about you. You know that.'

‘Yes, you were,' she agreed. ‘But just how nuts would you have been if I hadn't had a nice fat bank balance?'

He considered this seriously. ‘The point is that you were always likely to. I had just enough cash of my own to move among moneyed people, so I met rich ladies. The odds were always in my favour.'

She had to laugh at this. His good-natured face was so guileless.

‘I'm surprised you're not playing the odds again by this time,' she said.

He frowned. ‘The problem is, knowing exactly what the odds are.'

‘How do you mean?'

‘If I did marry again, I suppose the allowance you pay me would stop.'

‘You mean I might regard it as her job to support you, rather than mine?'

‘I can imagine a lot of women being difficult about it.'

‘Not me. How could you think I'd let the father of my son go short?'

He crowed with laughter. ‘That's the spirit.'

‘Why is it so important, anyway? If she's rich enough to afford you—'

‘Yes, but a fellow likes to have a little independence,' he said, totally straight-faced, which left her speechless.

‘You are totally shameless,' she said at last. ‘I mean, I've never known anyone like you.'

‘There isn't anyone like me. I'm the one and only. Buy while stocks last. Only I'll soon be getting a bit beyond my sell-by date, so it's time to think about the future.'

‘Do you have an ideal in mind—money apart, that is?'

‘Well, she shouldn't be too serious. I like to have a
good time and to blazes with tomorrow. But most women don't seem to be made like that.'

‘Crystal is,' Joanna sighed.

‘Yes, but she's a bit short of the readies at the moment. Gustavo still has to hand over the other half of her money, and she's asking for it faster than he can manage.'

She looked at him quickly. ‘How do you know that?'

‘She told me. We've got to know each other quite well in these last few days. She finds me a handy shoulder to cry on. They're having a bit of an argument about it. Hasn't he told you?'

‘No, he hasn't.'

‘Ah, well, he might find it a bit difficult. Reasons of delicacy and all that.' He said this as though speaking a foreign language.

After a moment he went on, ‘It's a pity, because in an ideal world you and Gustavo would get married fast, and that would solve everyone's problems.'

‘Freddy, are you going to be vulgar again?'

‘Probably. The most practical solutions usually are vulgar to people of refined sensibilities.'

‘How would you know? You wouldn't recognise a refined sensibility if it came up and bopped you on the nose.'

‘Yes, I would, and I'd bop it first. Serve it right for causing so much trouble in the world.'

‘What are you burbling about now?' she asked, trying to speak severely but unable not to laugh.

‘I'm saying that if you were to marry Gustavo, he could afford to repay Crystal her money, and then she'd be out of his hair, and yours. And of course, once she's regained her fortune—well—'

‘Are you daring to suggest—?'

‘Well, you said it yourself, I need a rich wife. And I think she and I might deal very well together.'

It dawned on her that he was perfectly right. He and Crystal were ideally suited.

‘And the kids would love it,' Freddy added. ‘Keep it all in the family, so to speak.'

He was right about that too. In fact, he was so right in every cynical suggestion that she dived hastily back into the pool.

It was a good day and everyone felt better when they were making their way back to the house in the late afternoon, ready to dress up for a good dinner.

Joanna was down first, finding Crystal in the library.

‘Are you cross with me?' Crystal asked. ‘You've been giving me glowering looks all day. I hate it when people are cross with me.'

‘If I'm cross it's because of the way you hurt Renata.'

‘Me? I've been delightful to her.'

‘How about flaunting those pictures of Toni, when you don't keep any of her?'

‘Did she look in my bag? She shouldn't have done.'

‘She was looking for reassurance that you carry her pictures too. And you don't. That hurt her, Crystal.'

‘Oh, hell!' Crystal gave a despairing sigh and ran her hands through her hair. ‘Look, I— You think I'm a monster, don't you?'

‘Well—I can't imagine taking as little interest in Billy as you seem to take in Renata.'

‘I know, I know, but I can't help it. It's not my fault. Something happened when she was born—or rather, something didn't happen. The first time I held her I waited for that rush of love you're supposed to get, and there was absolutely nothing. I tried and tried, but I couldn't feel anything.'

Joanna remembered her first sight of Billy, and the love that had swept through her like a hurricane. She felt a moment's sympathy for Crystal, who hadn't known that incredible joy. Perhaps she shouldn't be blamed too much for being unable to bond.

But the next moment some of her sympathy evaporated, when Crystal said, ‘If only she'd been a boy! I wanted a boy so much. All those months of getting thicker and uglier, and feeling awful. Of course Gustavo wanted an heir, and I wanted to give him one and get it out of the way.

‘I had a bad birth. It just went on for ages and ages, and all the time I was thinking, Please let it be a boy, so I need never do this again. And then she turned out to be a girl and I was so angry.'

‘Angry?'

‘I was tired,' Crystal said defensively. ‘I ached all over, and Gustavo was saying things like, “Never mind, darling. Next time.” Like that was supposed to make me feel better. And I knew every last person on the estate was going to be disappointed in me, and I just felt fed up.'