Not Just a Convenient Marriage (9 page)

‘Goodnight,’ he whispered. ‘Tomorrow we’ll—we’ll talk some more.’

He rose and went to the door.

‘Goodnight,’ he said again, and departed quickly.

She stayed motionless, trying to sort out her own thoughts and feelings. She had been briefly tempted to embrace him and take matters further, but every instinct told her this was not the time. Absorbed in his memories of Gina, the great love of his life, he was not ready to turn to her.

The time would come, she thought. And if she could be patient, it would be all the sweeter.

* * *

Now things moved fast. The date was set, the hotel’s wedding chapel was booked. Mario was to be the best man. Charlie would give her away.

Damiano introduced her to Luisa, whose job it was to organise everything. She was an elderly woman with a friendly air and a strong sense of humour. She and Sally took to each other at once.

‘Let me show you the chapel,’ she said. ‘It’s as fine as anything you’ll ever see.’

That was an understatement. Like the rest of the palazzo the chapel was several hundred years old, with a soaring roof, elaborate decorations and an air of luxury. Sally gazed up at the ceiling in wonder, trying to imagine herself against this glorious background. It was hard to believe, but so much was happening to her than she could ever have imagined.

‘They all want to be married here,’ Luisa told her. ‘You wouldn’t believe some of the famous people who’ve chosen this rather than anywhere else.’

She gave a brief list, enjoying Sally’s look of startled disbelief.

‘Him?’
Sally exclaimed at one of the more glamorous names. ‘Surely not. He’s a big film star.’

‘I’m not kidding you. Come and see the files.’

She took Sally through a door at the back of the chapel, and opened a large book full of wedding pictures. Sally browsed through them, noting the well-known names with interest and amusement.

But at the very end of the book she found something that made her grow still.

The picture showed a bride and groom standing close together, gazing into each other’s eyes, so absorbed in each other that the rest of the world might not have existed.

Gina and Damiano.

She could just recognise Gina. It was the difference in Damiano that took her breath away. This young man was gentle, vulnerable, open to the world. His adoration of his bride was written all over his face. As long as she was his he cared nothing who knew how he felt.

She thought of the man he had become now, hard-faced, emotionally armoured, sadly different from the eager boy so clearly shown in the picture.

‘Is anyone there?’

The sound of Damiano’s voice made her shut the book quickly and hide it away. He must not find her looking at the picture of him with the wife he’d loved as he would never love herself.

‘I’m here,’ she called, returning to the chapel. ‘Luisa has been showing me around. It’s a magnificent place. You don’t think perhaps it’s a little too magnificent for me? We could tie the knot somewhere else.’

Subtly she was giving him the chance to escape marrying here where Gina’s ghost lingered.

‘No, it must be here,’ he said. ‘If we didn’t use the hotel chapel eyebrows would be raised. Pietro would be worried in case our marriage wasn’t real.’

And Pietro was the reason it was all happening, she remembered. How foolish of her to have forgotten that.

Luisa bustled in again.

‘Let me show you your dressing room,’ she said. ‘It’s right next door and it’s where you’ll get ready on the day.’

There were two rooms where she would be attended by a maid and a make-up artist, both provided by the hotel. Then she would be ready to step onto the ‘stage’ playing an unfamiliar role, wearing a mask she didn’t completely understand.

Luisa took her to the hotel jeweller’s shop, where the assistant measured Sally’s finger, and handed over a ring. Then she produced another ring designed for a male hand. Luisa signed for both on Damiano’s behalf, and took possession of them.

It was like being part of a well-oiled machine, Sally thought, feeling slightly dizzy.

Luisa came with her into Damiano’s house.

‘Here’s the ring that you’ll give him,’ she said, pressing a small packet into her hand. ‘I wish you every happiness.’

She walked away to his office, to hand over the other ring, Sally guessed. She could faintly hear the sound of their voices, and hurried away to her room.

Studying the ring, she found it plain and gold. She wondered about the one Gina must have given him, and guessed he kept it hidden away somewhere like a sacred relic.

After half an hour he knocked on her door.

‘Did everything go well?’ he asked.

‘It all went as well as it possibly could.’

‘Splendid. Then let me show you the sleeping arrangements.’

He led her to his room, which she would soon share with him.

‘You can keep your present room as well,’ he told her. ‘It’ll be somewhere to retreat when you find me impossible to endure.’

‘Thank you,’ she said with a faint smile. ‘I dare say in time I’ll learn to put up with you, but let’s not rush it.’

‘Very wise.’

She got the message. Damiano’s room would be officially hers because that was what everyone would expect. The reality of their ‘marriage’ must remain private to themselves.

That might be hard, she thought, looking at the bed. It was wide, even for a double bed, but there was no barrier between the man and the woman who would share it. She wondered if this was where he’d slept with Gina.

I might need to slip away to my own room quite often, she mused. That’s probably what he’s hoping.

Downstairs they found Pietro waiting for them, looking worried.

‘Is something wrong?’ Sally asked.

‘It’s your honeymoon,’ he said. ‘You haven’t arranged it yet. Look, I’ve got lots of brochures about places for you to go.’

It was the one thing they hadn’t thought of. Now Damiano’s expression told her that for once he’d been caught off-guard. Inspiration came to her.

‘But we’re not going away at all,’ she said. ‘We wouldn’t enjoy it without you. And you can’t come with us because you’ve got to go to school. So we’re going to spend the honeymoon here, and in your spare time you can show me around Venice. I’m longing to see everything about this lovely place.’

Pietro gave a gasp of delight and looked eagerly at his father for confirmation. Damiano nodded at his son, then nodded again at Sally. There was no doubt that she’d done the right thing.

When Pietro had raced away to tell Toby the good news, she said, ‘I suppose I shouldn’t really have backed you into a corner without telling you first, but what else could I do?’

‘Nothing. You did well and I’m in complete agreement.’ He added wryly, ‘But the next time you accuse me of ordering people about like puppets I shall remind you of this.’

‘Yes, I suppose I did the same, but, after all, I’m learning from a master. And I dare say there are still plenty of tough tactics you can teach me.’

‘Do you know, I’m beginning to wonder if there’s anything I can teach you about conniving. But your idea is brilliant. I’m full of admiration. And that seems to be that. Everything is in place.’

‘Everything,’ she agreed, wondering what ‘everything’ really meant. ‘I must go now. I’ve got some emails to send.’

‘Me too. Goodbye until supper.’

CHAPTER NINE

T
HE
NIGHT
BEFORE
the wedding Damiano said, ‘There’s an old wedding tradition in Venice. As she walks down the aisle the bride finds a child in her way. He needs help, so she gives him what help she can, and everyone knows she’ll be a good mother. It dates back ages, but some brides still like to include it for sentimental reasons.’

‘And you want me to include it for Pietro?’

‘Pietro
wants you to include it. This afternoon he asked if I thought you’d do it. It would mean a lot to him.’

‘Of course I will.’

‘Let’s go up and tell him.’

They found Pietro sitting up in bed.

‘She said yes,’ Damiano said. ‘I told you she would.’

Pietro flung his arms around her, burying his face. She hugged him back, meeting Damiano’s eyes and seeing in them his pleasure and satisfaction at his son’s happiness.

‘Goodnight, my son,’ he said.

‘Goodnight, Papa. Goodnight, Mamma.’

It was the first time he’d actually called her by that name and it brought tears to her eyes.

‘Goodnight, my son,’ she said huskily.

His beaming look was her answer, and they hugged each other blissfully for a minute.

‘Sleep now,’ she said.

‘Yes, Mamma.’ He snuggled down.

‘He loves calling you that,’ Damiano murmured as they left the room.

‘I love it too. I wonder if any stepmother has ever been so warmly welcomed.’

‘To him, you are more than just a stepmother. You’re his mother now.’

‘Yes, that’s what I am.’

She thought he might have added that she would be a wife as well as a mother, but he said no more.

‘Come with me a moment,’ he said.

At his bedroom door he paused, went inside and emerged with a large box in his hand. ‘I haven’t yet given you a wedding present,’ he said. ‘Let’s go to your room first.’

When they were there he opened the box to reveal a heavy diamond necklace.

‘Oh, it’s—it’s beautiful,’ she gasped. ‘Put it on for me.’

He settled it around her neck while she gazed into the mirror, trying to believe that this was really her, wearing the necklace of such dazzling glitter. She knew little of jewellery but clearly this was wickedly expensive.

‘You didn’t have to do this,’ she breathed.

‘But I did. This is my thank you for what you’re doing. Sally, I think you hardly know what you’ve given me. When I see the happiness in my son’s face I know a new happiness myself, a happiness I never thought to know again. And it’s all due to you. Take this with my eternal gratitude.’

‘But I-I don’t have anything for you,’ she stammered. ‘I didn’t know what to get you as a gift.’

‘You’ve already given me the greatest gift I shall ever know.’

They surveyed their reflections, with him standing just behind her. Their eyes met in the mirror.

‘Perfect,’ he said. ‘I’d like you to wear it tomorrow. Everyone who sees it will know how much you mean to me.’

He removed the necklace and replaced it in the box.

‘Get a good night’s sleep,’ he said. ‘Tomorrow will be a big day and—well—goodnight.’

He kissed her cheek and left the room. She followed him to the door and watched him go down the corridor without looking back. Then she went to her window and stood still, trying to get her thoughts in order.

A big day, Damiano had said. But it was more than a big day. It was the start of a new universe, one that she was plunging into with a recklessness that was normally alien to her.

She was leaving her country to live in a strange land, married to a man she’d known only a short time. Yet with every fibre of her being she was certain that she was doing the right thing—not because he was rich and showered her with valuable gifts. But because his need made him reach out to her in a way she couldn’t resist.

Below her a gondola appeared, with two lovers locked in each other’s arms, oblivious to the world around them.

She watched until they were out of sight. Then closed the window and went to bed.

* * *

Next morning they would not meet before the wedding. She breakfasted with Charlie, then slipped into the hotel and went to the rooms set aside for the bride’s preparation. A maid helped her dress, then the make-up artist got to work. When she had finished she nodded in satisfaction at her own handiwork.

‘A beautiful bride,’ she said, and departed.

Alone, Sally had to admit that the woman looking back at her from the mirror was closer to being a beauty than she’d ever seen before.

But who is that? she thought. Me? Or just another mask?

There was a knock on the door. Expecting to find Mario, she opened it.

But outside there was a woman with a hard, determined face. For a moment Sally was bewildered. Then she remembered the two photographs she had seen by Pietro’s bed, and she gasped as she realised who this was.

‘I guess that means you know me,’ the woman said with a wry smile that was almost a sneer.

She had aged since the photograph and now confronted the world aggressively. But there was no doubt this was Imelda.

‘Yes, I know you,’ Sally said, trying to speak through her shock. ‘You were—Damiano’s wife.’

The woman gave a bitter laugh. ‘That’s one way of putting it. Are you going to let me in, or are you afraid of me? Perhaps you ought to be.’

‘I’m not afraid of you,’ Sally said untruthfully.

She stood back and Imelda swept into the room, moving in a queenly manner that implied that everything was her right.

‘His wife,’ she repeated. ‘It’s how I thought of myself, as his wife. But I soon had to face the truth, that he saw me as a servant, hired for a purpose and married only to keep me tied to him.’

‘You make him sound like a monster,’ Sally protested. ‘But he isn’t. He cares for people—’

‘Some people perhaps. He was crazy about Gina. He still is. And Pietro is all he has left of her, so he loves him for her sake. But the rest of us are just useful objects to be moved around as it suits him.’

Mounting temper made Sally say, ‘Perhaps he isn’t the only one. You abandoned that vulnerable child when it suited you.’

‘I had to save myself before it was too late. Now I’m here to warn you before you make the same mistake I did. If you marry him you’ll regret it for ever. He’s using you as he used me. He wasn’t in love with me and he’s not in love with you.’

Sally faced her, meeting the other woman’s bitter eyes with an expression that was cool and seemingly untroubled, although inside a storm was taking hold.

‘That’s fine,’ she said, ‘because I’m not in love with him. It’s a fair and equal bargain.’

‘Hah!’ Imelda’s crack of derisive laughter was like the wielding of a weapon. ‘Fine talk. You think so now, but he’ll lure you into loving him for his own convenience.’

‘He won’t be able to. You don’t know me any more than he knows me. I’m perfectly safe.’

‘You think you’re safe,’ Imelda sneered. ‘But nobody is safe from that man’s determination to make the world dance to his tune. He does everything for his own ends.’

‘But so do I,’ Sally insisted. ‘However bad you believe he is, I promise you I’m just as bad. Maybe worse, because I can think of schemes he’d never dream of.’

‘So maybe you can make him sorry? That’ll be something to look forward to.’

‘Don’t hope for too much,’ said a voice behind them.

Damiano was standing in the doorway. Before their astonished eyes he walked into the room and addressed Sally, giving Imelda only the briefest glance.

‘It’s time we were going to the chapel,’ he said. ‘We thought you’d have joined us before now. Not changed your mind, have you?’

‘Not at all,’ she said in a determinedly cheerful voice. ‘When I’ve made a decision I stick to it through thick and thin.’

He turned to Imelda. ‘Sorry to disappoint you. Nice try. But it was never going to work. Sally and I understand each other too well for anyone to get between us.’

‘You heard her say she doesn’t love you,’ Imelda sneered.

‘Yes, and I heard her say we made a fair and equal bargain. Love has nothing to do with it. Now I think you should go.’

She pulled a face at him, then turned to depart. But suddenly Pietro appeared. At once his face brightened and he began to run towards them.

‘Mamma,’ he squealed. ‘Mamma!’

Both Sally and Damiano tensed, dreading what must surely happen now. Pietro had been heartbroken when his ‘mother’ had abandoned him, and now he would suffer more pain.

But Imelda might not have existed as he scampered past her to throw himself into Sally’s arms.

‘Everyone’s waiting for you,’ he said. ‘Charlie said you must have got last-minute nerves and made a run for it.’

‘No,’ she said quickly. ‘I would never run away from you.’

‘What about Papa?’

‘Well, I might run away from him, but not you. Never you.’

He giggled, glancing up to catch his father’s reaction and was rewarded with a cheerful grin. For a moment father and son held each other’s eyes, while Sally fell silent, enjoying the sight.

The only one not happy was Imelda, for whom the moment seemed to sum up her resentment.

‘You think you’re clever, don’t you?’ she muttered to Sally. ‘But you’ll find out what a mistake you’ve made. Just wait and see.’

She turned and marched away. Pietro watched her leave, seemingly untroubled.

‘You handled her brilliantly,’ Damiano said in a voice too low for Pietro to hear.

‘You heard what we said?’

‘Everything.’

So he’d heard her declare that she didn’t love him and never would. For another couple that would have been disaster, but they were different. For them it could even be a source of strength.

‘A fair and equal bargain,’ he repeated. ‘You said it perfectly. And now I think it’s time for us to get married. That was the bargain, wasn’t it?’

‘Fair and square,’ she said, extending her hand. He shook it.

‘I’m sorry that happened,’ Damiano said. ‘You shouldn’t have had to meet Imelda like that.’

‘Don’t worry. She didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know.’

‘You mean you already know that I’m the monster she called me?’

‘I’ve always known that. But I’m a monster too. You’ll make some shocking discoveries. Perhaps you should run from me before it’s too late.’

He shook his head, taking her hand in his and speaking softly.

‘It’s already too late. Even without a wedding ceremony, I belong to you and you belong to me.’ His grasp tightened. ‘Don’t think of escape. Ever.’

‘I don’t want to escape,’ she promised. ‘I want something completely different.’

‘I just hope it includes me.’

‘Who else could it possibly include?’

‘That was the perfect thing to say.’ He lowered his head to lay his lips tenderly on hers. She kissed him back, relishing the sweetness that went through her at his touch. He drew back a little and looked down on her with a smile.

‘I’m going to make sure of you while I have the chance,’ he said softly.

As if by a signal Mario and Charlie appeared in the door.

‘Everyone’s waiting,’ Mario called. ‘And you—’ he addressed Pietro. ‘Time to get into position with—you know what.’

Pietro darted out of the room.

‘You know what?’ Sally asked. ‘What’s that?’

‘You’ll find out,’ Charlie said impishly.

‘She certainly will,’ Mario said, leading the way out. After a brief nod Damiano followed his brother.

‘Come along, sister,’ Charlie said. ‘Time for me to give you away.’

The moment was here. If she had any doubts this was her last chance to say so. But she took his arm and together they headed for the chapel.

Now she could hear the music, and through the open doors she could see that the groom and best man had taken up their positions. The chapel was crowded with friends and business acquaintances.

‘Ready?’ Charlie asked.

Was she really ready? she wondered. But it was too late to ask that now.

‘Yes,’ she said firmly, taking his arm. ‘I’m ready.’

They began to advance. There was Damiano with Mario by his side.

His eyes were fixed on her as though he was stunned by an approaching vision. But who did he see? she wondered. Herself or the ghost of Gina? And when he faced the truth, would she see disillusion in his eyes?

But before she reached him she saw something else.

‘Pietro,’ she murmured.

He was waiting for them just ahead, ready and eager to play his role. And he was not alone. Beside him was Toby, wagging his tail excitedly.

‘They let you bring Toby in?’ Sally whispered to the child.

‘Not really,’ Pietro said. ‘I just sort of—slipped him in quietly.’

‘What’s that dog doing in here?’ came a male voice.

A man in an usher’s uniform was approaching.

‘That animal can’t stay here,’ he said.

‘But he’s my friend,’ Pietro protested.

‘And my friend too,’ Sally said. ‘We’re a family, all of us. How could I get married without my friends and family?’

The usher looked about to tear his hair out. The sight of the groom approaching unsettled him even more, but Damiano’s manner was cheerful.

‘Is everything all right?’ he asked.

‘There’s no problem about Toby being here, is there?’ she said. ‘He’s perfectly behaved.’

‘But—’ the usher began.

‘These decisions are made by Signora Ferrone,’ Damiano said with a significant glance at Sally, indicating that she had already acquired official status as his wife. ‘If she is happy there is no problem.’

‘And if Pietro and Toby are happy, I’m happy,’ she said.

The usher retreated hastily. There were smiles from the crowd, and even a hint of applause from those who recognised that Sally had played her part perfectly. Now everyone knew that she would be a loving mother to the child who was hugging her so ecstatically.

But the greatest pleasure came from the look of warmth and gratitude Damiano gave her, and the way he mouthed, ‘Well done.’

He returned to his place, now watching her with a smile. The procession resumed, Sally supported by Charlie, Pietro holding her other hand, Toby trotting obediently beside his young master.