‘Don’t be like that,’ she snapped. ‘I only want a little appreciation for all I’ve done over the years.’
‘You have it, Claire.’
‘So, I’ll send them on Friday. I’ll call you with the details. You will pick them up yourself, won’t you?’
‘Of course.’
‘I don’t want some chauffeur they’ve never met.’
‘You have a great time in Sandy Lane.’
‘Well, I’m sure I will,’ she said brightly. ‘John knows everyone.’
12
‘She won’t eat,’ said Alba in exasperation. ‘She just lies in bed, staring at the ceiling, waiting to die.’ She allowed Panfilo to wrap her in his arms. ‘I don’t know what to do any more.’
‘You’ve done all you can, my love,’ he replied, kissing her hair. ‘She has to do the rest on her own.’
‘But she’ll die.’
‘Then she’ll be where she wants to be, with Francesco.’
‘You can’t say that! She’s thirty-seven years old. She has her whole life ahead of her. I have a responsibility.’
‘She’s Toto’s responsibility.’
‘But I’m the mother she never had. I was there during her growing up. I love her like my own daughter.’
‘Don’t let Rosa hear you say that.’
‘Rosa knows that. There are many ways to love.’
‘Cosima needs more than love to rouse her out of the rut she’s got herself into. She needs will and a change of mind. Perhaps Rosa’s right, all this fussing over her is enabling her to wallow in self-pity. While she’s doing that she doesn’t have to face up to her life.’
‘You mean, she’s frightened to move on?’
‘That’s exactly what I mean.’
Rosa sat on the end of Cosima’s bed. Her cousin was pale, her hair dark against her pillow. She looked frail. ‘I’m sorry we haven’t been getting along,’ said Rosa, finding it difficult to apologise. ‘I didn’t understand.’ When Cosima failed to reply, Rosa stood up and walked over to the little shrine with its burning candle. Francesco’s face grinned out from his photograph. ‘You know, the man who rescued you is called Luca. He’s very handsome. I think you should thank him.’
‘I don’t want to thank him. He did me a disservice.’ Cosima turned her face away.
‘He risked his life for you.’
‘He should have left me alone.’
‘What decent man would watch a woman walk into the sea and not try to save her?’
‘It was none of his business.’
Rosa decided to take a gamble. ‘He said a little boy ran into the church and cried for help.’
‘So?’
‘He said he carried a feather.’
‘A feather?’ Cosima looked at her at last, eyes glittering.
‘A feather.’
‘Who was he?’
‘No one else saw him.’
‘You’re lying!’ Cosima’s cheeks flushed. ‘He’s lying!’
‘Ask him yourself.’
‘I don’t want to see him.’
‘Then you’ll never know.’
‘It’s impossible.’
But Rosa could see she was curious. Her heart began to race at the prospect of being the one to lure her cousin out of her mourning. ‘Fine. Whatever you want, Cosima. But if I were you, I’d want to know.’ She left the room, passing Toto on his way up.
‘How is she?’
Rosa shrugged. ‘I think she’ll be getting up soon.’
Luca was in his usual spot by the pool when his mother appeared in a fluster. ‘Good God!’ she exclaimed dramatically. ‘Someone’s been in the folly again! Your father swears it isn’t him. Didn’t you say you heard footsteps there last night?’
‘I was joking, Mother,’ he replied, recalling the rabbit.
‘Well, it’s no joke. There really was someone there last night. The bed has been slept in again!’
‘Why don’t you change the lock?’
‘Ghosts can walk through walls.’
‘I didn’t think you believed in ghosts.’ He got up to help her to a chair.
‘Maybe I’m wrong about that,’ she hissed, in case anyone should overhear. She never liked to admit she was wrong. ‘Your grandmother used to see them all the time. I’d find her deep in conversation with herself, but she’d insist she was talking to spirits. She’d lay extra places at the table for her dead relations. Nanni thought it was funny; I thought it was sad. My mother thought it the most natural thing in the world. I resented her for her madness. But was I wrong?’