‘Well, that’s another mystery solved,’ muttered Romina, sitting down.
Rosemary glared at her husband. ‘What are you doing here?’ she demanded. ‘We’ve been looking all over for you!’
Everyone stared at Fitz and Alba. For a moment they floundered, not knowing what to say.
Rosa saw an opportunity to make peace with her mother. ‘It’s all my fault,’ she said, climbing off the bed. ‘Nero is my friend. I wanted to introduce him to Eugenio, my mother and Cosi, so we crept up here uninvited only to be discovered by Fitz and Luca, coming to trap the intruder.’ She threw up her hands. ‘We’re guilty as charged.’
‘But the real intruder is me,’ said Nero. ‘That’s a warmer word than ghost. I like it!’
‘If I had known you were the intruder, Nero, I would have invited you in for a drink,’ said Romina.
‘You would?’
‘Of course. This is your folly. Thanks to you, it has been perfectly preserved. To be honest, I never really felt it belonged to me, which is why I didn’t touch it. I must have known, somewhere deep inside my soul, that it was possessed by someone else, someone who had more right to it than me.’
‘You are a woman of excellent taste. Ovidio would have held you in high esteem. I have a book of old photographs. Perhaps you would like to see what the palazzo looked like in its prime, before we let it succumb to the elements?’
‘I would adore to see it! And I would adore for you to come here as often as you like, so long as you entertain me with wonderful stories of the Marchese.’
‘Nothing would give me greater pleasure.’ He kissed her hand. ‘You are not only beautiful but blessed with a dazzling intelligence. I am humbled by the glare of it. My gratitude is overwhelming. Do you mind if I have a cigarette?’
Rosemary relaxed her shoulders. ‘I’m sorry,’ she muttered, slipping her hand around Fitz’s arm. ‘I’ve been so worried.’
‘About what?’
She shook her head, not wanting to discuss her fears within earshot of Alba. ‘Silly woman’s worries. You’re fine, that’s all that matters.’
Alba smiled at her daughter. It was a small smile but Rosa felt her pride like the heat of the sun. She had won her mother’s admiration and her gratitude. Things were going to be different now.
When Luca returned with glasses and wine, he brought the rest of the house party with him. They all crammed into the folly, opened the bottles, and listened enraptured while Nero brought the past alive with colourful tales of dukes and princes and the inimitable Marchese.
Luca took Cosima’s hand. The ring sparkled on her finger like a bright star, but no one seemed to notice, until he caught the professor looking across at him with a father’s affection. His gaze dropped to Cosima’s ring and the professor gave Luca a wink and a discreet, but laudatory nod.
33
Luca told his parents that he was returning to London to touch base, pay bills and catch up with his friends. He didn’t tell them of his marriage plans, and he didn’t tell Cosima of his plans for their future. He just took a plane back with the intention of kick-starting the rest of his life with the woman who had made it all possible.
He left the palazzo in a state of excitement. Romina had all but adopted Nero, renaming the folly after him and inviting him to stay there whenever he liked. She spent hours on the terrace, with the old photographs of the palazzo and all the elegant people the Marchese had entertained in decadent magnificence. She welcomed Nero’s evening salons with Rosa, and Eugenio, so relieved that Nero was not the handsome stranger he had imagined, allowed her to see him as often as she wanted. The decrepit old Nero was no competition for Eugenio; Rosa’s enthusiastic love-making, without the stimulus of a row, was testament of that.
Fitz, Rosemary and Freya returned to England. Miles was at the end of his tether, afraid to the point of making himself ill that his wife would leave him for Luca. If it hadn’t been for Cosima, she might well have done. But she accepted his apology and believed him when he told her he had finished his affair and would never stray again. He could barely take his hands off her, following her around the house like an adoring puppy. Freya found this mildly irritating, but she was pleased to be back where she belonged. She didn’t need to sleep with Luca to redress the balance; she was holding all the cards.
Fitz knew he would never see Alba again. He lodged her safely in the very furthest corner of his heart along with his regret and a little sadness. There was no point longing for the unattainable. Alba and he were a chapter closed long ago. Now he would return to his life and look forward. He would try not to think of what might have been, or lament his lack of courage; he was too old to sour the years he had left. But she held all his love and always would.