‘Means nothing to me,’ said Romina. ‘SOS would have been more appropriate!’ Then her face darkened and she looked at her brother in alarm. ‘Marchese Ovidio di Montelimone.’
16
Romina sat in the shade with Porci in her lap, recovering from the discovery of the mysterious silk scarf. Ventura brought her a cup of coffee while Luca, Ma and Nanni discussed who the intruder might be. ‘It’s a woman’s scarf. It smells of a woman’s perfume, too.’
Luca brought it to his nose. ‘A very sweet perfume. I’d recognise it if I’d smelt it before.’
‘Who else has the key?’ Nanni asked.
‘Only me!’ Romina wailed.
‘Might she be climbing in through the window?’ Ma suggested.
‘No, there are bars on the windows and they are never opened.’ Romina blinked back tears. ‘Why on earth would someone want to sleep in there?’
‘Change the lock.’ Nanni was surprised that his sister hadn’t done so already.
‘No,’ Luca intervened. ‘Let’s catch her. She’s not doing any harm, so let’s lie in wait. This old codger I met with Caradoc, in the church, said that rumours of ghosts have grown up over the years because lights were seen up here even though the place was uninhabited. Perhaps it’s the same person.’
‘Someone who doesn’t want us here,’ said Romina anxiously.
‘A homeless person, perhaps,’ said Ma. ‘I do hate homeless people. They never bathe.’
‘Whoever she is, I’m going to find her,’ said Luca confidently. He thought of Cosima. ‘You know, I know someone who might just shed some light on all of this.’
Luca was grateful for the excuse to go into town. He found Rosa in the trattoria with Toto. The place was very quiet; only one elderly couple sat drinking coffee on the terrace. His first instinct was to ask after Cosima, but the sight of Rosa’s enthusiastic face warned him against provoking her jealousy. She rushed off to make him coffee, then sat down to join him. ‘How are the children?’
‘Having a blast.’
‘And everything up at the palazzo?’
‘When are you going to come and visit?’
‘When my father gets around to taking the photographs. He’s busy with a job in Positano at the moment.’
‘Bring your children. They might like a swim.’
‘I will.’
‘Tell me something. What do you know about the old Marchese?’
‘Only what my mother has told me, or let slip over the years. She doesn’t like to talk about it. My father told me that during the war people did what they could to survive, even eating dogs! The Marchese was rich. He fell in love with Valentina. Times were hard, he was her ticket to a better life. She’d disappear to their love-nest up at the palazzo . . .’
‘Love-nest?’
‘Yes, there’s a little house on the top of the cliff, overlooking the sea.’
‘You’ve been in there?’
Rosa blushed. ‘Yes.’
‘How did you get in?’
She glanced around to make sure they weren’t overheard. ‘Mamma has a key. Valentina’s key. She’d let herself in and wait for the Marchese. Isn’t that romantic!’
‘Does your mother know you’ve been up there?’
‘I haven’t been in it for years,’ she hissed. ‘Don’t ever tell her. She’d murder me.’
‘Does your mother ever go up there now?’
‘No. She won’t go near the place. You see, when she came out here she was about my age. She came to find her family because her father had never told her about her mother. Of course, she never knew why. She thought it was because her step-mother was jealous of her. The truth was that her parents were never married and her mother was leading other lives. The Marchese was jealous that Valentina was going to take Alba to London with my grandfather – he wrongly believed the baby to be his – so, he murdered her. If he couldn’t have her, he would make sure no one else could.’
‘And Valentina’s brother murdered him.’
‘Yes. In your palazzo. My mother had an English ex-boyfriend who came out to win her back and they both went up to see the ruin.’ Luca thought of Fitzroy and things began to shift into focus. If Rosemary had the slightest idea of Alba’s beauty, she’d have a fit. ‘They found Nero, this weird man who the Marchese had adopted as a child, I think. He told them that the Marchese was murdered because he’d killed Valentina. It was such a shock. Mamma found the place so desolate and evil she has never returned. Wild horses wouldn’t drag her there.’