Moth to the Flame(28)

she felt herself cringe unhappily inside. She wished that she was a

thousand miles away, or better still that she had never succumbed

to the temptation of coming to Italy at all. Look where her

well-meaning interference had led her, she thought miserably, to

heartbreak. And yet, paradoxically, she knew she could not

honestly say she regretted her meeting with Santino. Until that

moment she had been only half alive, although she hadn't realised it.

But she knew it now, and she knew too that having caught even a

brief glimpse of the sheer radiance that life could bring, she would

never again be content to settle for second-best.

On arrival at the clinic, a large modern building in extensive

grounds on the outskirts of the city, they had been met by a smiling

nun, one of the nursing order who ran the clinic, whose reassuring

words brought a smile of relief to the Signora's strained face.

Santino had turned to Juliet. 'I shall take my mother to see Mario,'

he said abruptly. 'I imagine you would prefer to see your sister

alone for a while.'

She murmured her assent, but now she was beginning to regret that

she had not waited to confront Jan until he was free to accompany

her. At least the foregoing painful little scene might have been

avoided in the presence of a third party-especially, an intimidating

presence like Santino's.

'What's the matter?' Jan's voice broke across her reverie. 'Love's

sweet dream turning sour already? That's the trouble with whirlwind

romances, of course. It's very exciting while you're actually being

swept along, but you tend to come back down to earth with a bump

eventually.'

'It isn't that.' Juliet got up restlessly and walked over to the window,

her fingers playing with the blind cord as she stood looking out.

'I-I have, to know what you intend to do next.'

'You mean will I go along with this farrago of nonsense that you

and Santino have dreamed up to explain why Mario and I just

happened to be in the same car together miles from Rome?' Jan

gave a little mirthless laugh. 'Can you give me one good reason why

I should? After all, I owe the Vallone clan nothing-but nothing.'

'Would it be an added incentive if I were to say that Vittoria

Leontana will be here any moment, and that if she discovers the

true facts you can forget any hopes you may have had about

keeping this whole miserable business from Mim?' Juliet kept her

voice level with an effort.

'Vittoria?' Jan said sharply. 'What the hell is she doing here? She's

the last person I ever want to see again-spiteful, conniving bitch!'

'We won't argue about that,' Juliet said a little wearily. 'It's a little

complicated to explain, but she happens to be related by marriage

to the Vallone family, and she's travelling to the clinic with

Santino's stepfather. In fact they've probably arrived by now.'

Tersely she told her sister all Santino had had to say about the

Contessa's nose for scandal, and her contacts in the newspaper

world.

'She wouldn't hesitate to make money out of this story,' she ended.

'And can you imagine the effect it will have on Mim if she picks up

the newspaper one morning and sees all the details laid out for

public inspection?'

She was glad to see that even Jan looked discomposed.

'Of course I can imagine,' she said shortly. 'Very well, sister dear. It                       
       
           



       

seems I'll have to go along with this silly story of yours. But on one

condition.'

Juliet's heart sank. 'I'm not sure that I can ...' she began.

'Then forget it.' Jan waved. 'I'll just have to risk that I can find some

way of closing Vittoria's mouth. I know a few details about her that

she might not want making public and...'

'Oh, no!' Juliet broke in swiftly, sickened. 'For heaven's sake don't

bring yourself down to her level. Tell me the condition and-and I'll

find some way of fulfilling it.'

Jan leaned back against her pillows. She was smiling again, a small

dulcet smile as she looked up at her sister under her eyelashes.

'It's suddenly occurred to me that I need somewhere to go,' she said

with a pretty plaintiveness. 'I want to steer clear of Rome for a little

while for obvious reasons, and I can't go back to England either, so

I need a refuge.' She paused expectantly, looking up at Juliet.

'You mean-you want me to give you a home?' Juliet asked

helplessly. 'But, Jan, that's impossible. I have no work permit, for

one thing, and no money, or very little. And I have to get back to

England before September anyway for the start of term, so ...'

Jan stared up at her, her eyes narrowing. 'What in the world are you

talking about?' she asked impatiently. 'Sometimes, Julie, I think you

must be half-witted. I'm not proposing we should shack up together

in some hovel to hide my shame, if that's what you were thinking. In

case you'd forgotten, you're engaged to marry a very rich man, and I

can't imagine that he'll happily accept the idea of your returning to

England to teach a crowd of scruffy kids when you could be settling

down to raise his own bambinos.' She stretched smilingly. 'You've

been staying at the castello, and presumably that's where you'll be

returning when this little errand of mercy is at an end, so I'll come

too. I can't wait to get but of this hole,' she added petulantly. 'These

nuns are giving me the creeps. I swear they know I'm pregnant.'

'They probably do,' Juliet responded mechanically. 'They are nurses,

after all.' Her heart was thudding in sheer horror. She had never

imagined that Jan would make such a demand. In fact, she had been

sure that she would never want to see any of the Vallones again.

Desperately she remembered Santino's stricture that she should not

tell her sister that their engagement was a fraud. Yet how could she

hope to maintain the illusion even for a week or two if Jan moved in

with them?

Besides, in spite of what Santino had said about continuing with the

pretence until Mario and Francesca were married, she had hoped to

persuade him to let her return to England. She had never intended

for one moment to return to the castello under any circumstances.

Santino might have said that he did not intend to force his attentions

on her, but his resolve might falter in the intimate surroundings of

the castello. And if he did make love to her, she would not be able

to hide her response, her deep need any longer, although in some

ways, it would be even worse if he stuck to his word and did not

touch her, she thought wretchedly.

'Well, what's the matter? You look as if you've seen a ghost,' Jan

said. She smiled. 'Come on, love, don't look so stricken. If you were

planning a premature honeymoon, I'll be very discreet. I won't

intrude, I promise. Besides,' she gave a little knowing chuckle, 'you

might be quite glad to have me there-to advise you.'

Juliet felt sick. 'No,' she said. 'It-it's quite impossible...'

A cool voice from the doorway interrupted. 'Forgive me, but what is

impossible?'

Santino strolled forward, his eyes travelling from the tense girl

standing at the window, to her smiling, relaxed counterpart in the

bed. He paused for a moment, his eyes narrowing a little as he

surveyed them both.

'An amazing resemblance,' he murmured, half to himself. 'Has no

one ever commented on it before?'

'No,' said Jan. Juliet saw her lips pout a little, and knew she would

not be delighted at Santino's comment. She was so used to everyone

automatically regarding her as the pretty one, and had always

tended to be dismissive towards' anyone who in the past had seen

the resemblance between them. She gave Santino a beguiling smile.

'You're seeing me at a disadvantage, of course, signore. My

cosmetic case was one of the casualties in the accident.'

'A small loss compared to what might have been,' Santino said

quietly. He stood at the bedside and looked down at her for a long

moment. 'So we meet at last, Janina. You should not mourn the loss

of your cosmetics, you know. Beauty such as yours needs no

adornment.'

Juliet felt herself stiffen, recognising the ironic note in his voice and

fearful that Jan would hear it too, but her sister took the remark at                       
       
           



       

its face value and laughed up at him.

'I'm sorry we haven't met before, too,' she said provocatively. 'What

a pity, now that we have met, that you happen to be engaged to my

sister.'

Juliet had to smother a gasp at the blatancy of the remark and

turned away to stare blindly down into the street below. She'd had

no idea what Santino was going to say to Jan when he'd entered the

room, but she hadn't expected him to stand over the bed, holding

her hand in his.

'I too would have preferred a meeting under slightly different

circumstances,' she heard him say in reply, but there was no irony in

his voice this time, merely a kind of appreciative amusement.

That's the sort of remark he's used to, Juliet thought desolately.

She's the sort of woman he's used to. A quick, enjoyable affair, with

no bones broken on either side when it's over. They're two of a

kind.

His voice went on smoothly. 'So what is impossible, Giulietta? You

were in the middle of some explanation when I entered.'