The Mermaid Garden(123)

“And what have I done for her?”

“Don’t ask yourself what you have done, but what you can do.” The slippery fish was now on his tongue and wriggling about so furiously it took all his strength to hold it there. The pleasure was overwhelming, and he began to sweat little beads onto his nose and forehead. Never before had he had to wrestle with such a big one.

Elio lifted his chin. “I’m no fool, you know. I am aware that she has a boyfriend. She thinks I don’t know, but I have eyes and ears like everyone else. She won’t tell me, of course. She doesn’t tell me anything these days. Once, when she was a little girl, she used to share her thoughts, but I didn’t listen. I didn’t take any notice.” He crumpled again into a heap of self-pity. “What sort of father am I? She’ll marry one day, and who knows whether she’ll want me there at her wedding. I should walk her down the aisle to give her away, but what man is going to ask for her hand from me, when I have no right to give it? I have failed her.” His shoulders began to shudder.

“Let’s get you home.” The sacristan got to his feet. The slippery fish slid enticingly onto the tip of his tongue.

Elio gazed up at him forlornly. “I have nothing,” he said, and with that final declaration of despair the fish glided out.

“You’re going to be a grandfather, Elio,” announced the sacristan. To his surprise, he discovered that the pleasure of divulging the secret far outweighed the pleasure of keeping it. Elio stared up at him in astonishment. “Yes, Floriana is pregnant,” he repeated gleefully.

“Pregnant? Floriana?”

“It is Dante Bonfanti’s child.”

Elio sobered up as he digested the news. “Are you sure?”

“Trust me, I know. You see, you do have something to live for.”

“But she’s so young.”

“She is young, but I suspect the boy will marry her.”

“He’ll take her away.”

“Surely not.”

“Of course he will.” Elio struggled to his feet.

The sacristan gripped his arm to steady him. “Now, you mustn’t say a word to anyone, do you understand?” Elio barely heard him. “I shouldn’t have told you, but when you looked up at me with such misery, I felt you needed something to live for. Now you have it. You are going to be a grandfather. Floriana will need you. Now is your chance to make amends.” The sacristan felt a sudden sense of satisfaction at doing something good.

“Dante Bonfanti?” Elio muttered, scratching his head. “Beppe Bonfanti’s only son?”

“Yes, that’s the one. Now remember, I told you not to say a word!”

“Not a word,” Elio repeated vaguely.

“Good. Let’s get you home. I want you to give me all your bottles, and we’ll pour them down the lavatory. From now on you are going to be a different man. No more drinking and feeling sorry for yourself. God has given you another chance. You have it within your power to change your life and be the father you’ve always wanted to be.”

Elio stumbled over the cobbles, leaning heavily on the sacristan. Did he really say Floriana was pregnant by Dante Bonfanti? Was it possible? He grunted and nearly tripped. The sacristan caught him before he fell. In his inebriated state much was unclear. However, there was one thing that shone out from the mist as clear as quartz: Beppe Bonfanti would never allow his only son to marry his daughter.


The following day Dante spoke to Floriana via the public telephone in Luigi’s. “Everything has been arranged,” he explained. “I will drive down on Friday the nineteenth of November and pick you up Saturday morning. I think it’s best that we meet at the wall. We can spend the day together, then I’ll drive you to the convent.”

“Will you be able to visit me there?”

“Of course I will. It’s not a prison, you know.” He paused a moment. She could hear him breathing down the line. “You’re not frightened, are you, piccolina?”

“No. I’m excited. At the moment he’s not showing at all. If I didn’t feel nauseous all the time, I’d wonder whether I really was pregnant.”

In spite of her excitement, Dante dearly wished it was a false alarm. “Once you’ve seen a doctor we’ll know for certain.”

“Oh, I know for sure. I can feel him inside me although he’s just the size of a seed.”

“And you think he’s a boy?”

“For certain. I’m going to give you a son, Dante.” When he didn’t reply, she grew anxious. “Are you frightened?”

He didn’t want to admit his fear. “I feel guilty for having got you into this mess in the first place.”