Vintage Love (91 page)

“An older man of bad reputation.”

“The worst. He is the sort no man would wish his daughter to know. And Prince Raphael stupidly introduced Irma to him. From the moment they met, this Barsini has sought to undermine Raphael with my daughter.”

“That is too bad.”

“She is with Barsini at this moment! That is why she is not here to greet you. He sent for her earlier today and she always goes to him as if she were under his spell. Which she may well be!”

Della raised her eyebrows. “Why do you say that?”

The Prince gave her a worried look. “I should not speak of this perhaps.”

“Please tell me all.”

He stared at her in silence for a moment. Then he said in a low voice, “Barsini is a Satanist! He leads a band of mad Devil-worshippers. I fear that Irma has become one of them and we Sanzios have always given our allegiance to the Church!”

Della was shocked. “Satanists here in Rome!”

“It is considered fashionable by many here in Rome to revile the Church,” the old man said with sadness.

“And you think my sister has become one of the group?”

“There is much to indicate it.”

“I’m glad I’m here,” Della said earnestly. “Perhaps I shall be able to help her. If she returns to England with me it would get her away from this dreadful man, Barsini!”

“I pray you’ll be able to reason with her since I have surely failed,” the invalid said.

“I shall certainly try. Does my sister speak English well?”

“English has always been a second language here,” Prince Sanzio said. “And most of the educated group in Rome are fluent in both French and English.”

“That will make things easier,” Della said.

The white-haired man studied her with his sunken eyes. “There is also the financial aspect of it. As an heiress to part of the Standish fortune, Irma will no longer have to cope with genteel poverty.”

“True,” Della said.

“This may make a change in her,” the old man said. “It can open other avenues of living for the unhappy girl, such as travel, fine clothes and possessions.”

Della said, “Mr. Clarkson is here to represent the law firm taking care of my estate. If he is convinced that she is truly my sister the estate will accept her.”

“I have not a single doubt,” the old man said. “You two look enough alike to be identical twins. Having you by me makes me feel that it is Irma here.”

“I find that exciting,” she said. “The dearest wish of my parents was that she should be found and restored to her proper place in the family.”

Prince Sanzio said, “I shall not stand in her way. I want her to have the security the Standish name can give her.”

Della said, “There is no question that she will always be grateful to you for bringing her up.”

The invalid shrugged. “That is difficult to predict with Irma in her present state of mind. She is very confused. The main thing is to get her away from Count Barsini and his evil crowd.”

“Cannot her fiancé, Prince Raphael, take a leading part in that?”

The old man shook his head sadly. “No. I’m afraid not. He is a good man but rather weak. He hesitates to take a stand against Barsini.”

“That is too bad.”

“Most unfortunate! But then, despite his charm he is a person of vacillating character. His family have had their headaches with him.”

“I’m glad you’ve filled me in on all this,” Della said. “I’ll know better how to approach her.”

“That is why I insisted on seeing you alone,” the old man said.

She stared at his lined, sickly face. “Now may I ask you something, Prince?”

“By all means,” he said. “I am at your service.”

“A series of strange happenings has tagged me since your letter about Irma arrived in London.”

He frowned. “I do not understand.”

“For one thing I have been hounded by a tall, dark man who seems to think I know something about a valuable, jeweled Madonna which evidently was stolen here in Rome.”

“Jeweled Madonna?” the old man echoed. “I know nothing of such a thing. Nor would I suppose any of the others here have knowledge of it.”

“Yet it all followed my hearing from you,” she pointed out.

“Could that not be coincidence?”

“I doubt it,” she said grimly. “I was actually kidnapped and threatened with death if I would not give information about the Madonna. And I know nothing about it.”

“Sounds like the work of a madman!”

“Perhaps it is,” she said unhappily. “But it has made life complicated for me. I’m in almost constant fear. And both I and Henry Clarkson were attacked during the train journey here from Paris. I might not have arrived here alive.”

Prince Sanzio eyed her with shocked amazement. “This is distressing information. I do not know what to say.”

“Please understand we are in no way blaming you,” she said.

The old man looked pained. “Yet all this began only after you received my letters concerning your lost sister.”

“Yes. We think it may be that someone knowing about my coming here decided to use me in a bizarre theft scheme.”

“Continue,” the old man begged her.

“Suppose,” she said, “that someone close to you, a friend or maybe a mere acquaintance, heard about the discovery that Irma was my sister. And that I was coming here to check on the authenticity of her claim. Let us assume this person or persons has stolen a valuable object which they must get out of the country. And in an impulsive moment hit on the idea of sending it to me for safekeeping. Perhaps as a belonging of my sister.”

“And?”

“Let us further imagine that a messenger was sent to London with the stolen Madonna. But some other criminal knew about the scheme and intercepted the messenger, killed him and took the stolen treasure. This man brings it back here. But in the meanwhile the original thieves assume I have it, come after it, and when they get nothing but denials from me, decide that I’m unwilling to return it to them. So they harass and threaten me!”

The old man heard her story with astonishment. “It all seems to fit,” he said. “Except that I cannot conceive of any of my household being capable of such a crime!”

“Could not Irma have told this evil Count Barsini about me?”

The Prince’s mouth gaped. “Of course! No doubt she has told him all about you!”

Della said, “Then the first thing I must do is try and find out from her what she has told him.”

The Prince nodded. “I warn you it will not be easy. Your sister is a difficult girl where that evil man is concerned.”

“It is a scandal that you should come all this way and she not be here,” Prince Sanzio said. “I must be truthful. I cannot truly say when she will come back.”

“I see,” Della replied.

He sighed. “We shall have dinner at nine. Prince Raphael is invited. Perhaps she will come with him. Or it could be she is with that villainous Barsini. In that event there is no telling about her!”

“Then we’ll all gather for dinner at nine,” she said. “And if Irma returns before then please send her to me.”

“The moment she comes home,” the frail Prince Sanzio said. “I am now going to rest for a while. I advise that you and your friends do the same.”

“Thank you,” she said. “And especially for being so frank with me.”

“It is well that you should know what you are facing here,” the old man said. “And it is also best for my adopted daughter.”

She left him sitting forlornly in his wheelchair. When she reached the second floor she met Aunt Isobel and Henry on the landing.

Della asked them, “Did you enjoy your tour?”

Aunt Isobel gave her a knowing look. “Not too many left but a few prints and some tapestries dirty and in need of repairs. According to Guido, the Prince has sold most of his valuable possessions.”

“That’s apt to be the sad truth,” Della said.

Henry asked her, “How did you make out with the Prince?”

“I learned a few things which may be of value to us,” she said. “My sister is not here and she’s been behaving in an irrational fashion lately. The Prince doesn’t truly know when she’ll return.”

“A fine state of affairs,” Aunt Isobel said with some anger. “After all we’ve gone through to get here.”

“You look weary,” Della said. “Dinner is not until nine. You should go to your room and have a rest.”

“I’m not unpacked yet,” her aunt said. “But when I finish that is exactly what I shall do. You’d expect the Prince to at least have a maid to take care of us.” And with that she went down the corridor to her own room.

The good-looking young lawyer smiled wryly. “I’m afraid this is bringing out the worst in Aunt Isobel.”

“I know,” she said, frowning. “And I dare not tell her all since it will only upset her.”

He gave her an inquiring look. “It sounds as if you had a pretty important talk with the old man.”

“I did,” she said. “Come along to my room where it is more private and I’ll tell you.”

In her room she repeated all she and the Prince had discussed. The young lawyer listened with a serious look on his pleasant face. He did not speak until she had ended her account.

Then he said, “I pinpoint Barsini as the criminal who must have sent the Madonna to you in London.”

“I’m inclined to agree,” Della said. “But we’re only guessing.”

“It sounds like an educated guess,” Henry said. “In any case we know Barsini is a bad influence on the girl.”

“Without doubt.”

“The first thing to decide is whether she is truly your sister,” Henry told her. “If it seems unlikely that she is I suggest we leave Rome at once.”

“We’ve only arrived!”

“We came here for a single purpose,” Henry said. “Once that is settled we have no business here.”

“What if she is my sister?”

“The situation becomes complicated.”

“And whether she is my sister or not, we have to find out whether Barsini or some of her other underworld friends were involved in a theft and whether the stolen treasure was sent to me.”

Henry sighed. “All of which is gobbledygook until we establish the identity of the girl and how much she has told others about you.”

“Prince Sanzio seems badly upset about her actions.”

“Why not?” Henry asked. “He has given her his love and his name. He will not enjoy it being gossiped about Rome that Princess Sanzio is an ardent Satanist!”

“How could she do this to him?” Della wondered.

Henry gave her an amused look. “If she’s a Standish she has a mind of her own. You should realize that!”

She smiled at him shyly. “Then by all I’ve heard she is likely my sister.”

“At the moment I’m more concerned about you,” Henry Clarkson said. “As long as they have this mad idea that you know where the Madonna is, you’re a target.”

“I have one trump card.”

“What is that?”

“They dare not kill me if they think I’ve the sole knowledge of where it may be hidden.”

Henry nodded. “That’s true. But it’s a small benefit. They could work you over badly short of death.”

“That’s been done already,” she said. “Remember Limehouse! I know I will!”

“I’d prefer to forget it.”

She shook her head in wonderment. “Here we are talking about the Madonna as if we knew it really existed and that it had been stolen!”

“It’s a kind of madness that is catching,” he agreed.

“As long as they, whoever they are, think it, I suppose we have to go along,” she said.

Henry glanced at his pocket watch. Did you say dinner was to be at nine?”

“Yes.”

He returned the watch to the vest pocket of his brown suit. “I’ll go and let you get some rest. You want to be at your best tonight. And if dinner is not until nine we are apt to have a long session.”

“I would say so,” she agreed, rising. “Especially when we don’t know what time my supposed sister will show up.”

“That complicates everything.”

“Her fiancé, Prince Raphael, is to be here,” Della went on. “And the old Prince appeared to think she might come with him.”

“We shall see,” Henry said. Then he took her in his arms and kissed her. “I’m glad our rooms are all on the same floor,” he observed as he let her go. “At least we are close together in case of an attack.”

“Let us hope there won’t be any,” she said. “It’s a very old house. Did Guido show you any secret passages or dungeons?”

Henry smiled. “As a matter of fact, he did tell us about there having been dungeons underneath the original building on this site. He claimed they were part of the cellars now. He didn’t say anything about secret passages.”

“I’d be willing to say there are some.”

“Don’t,” he protested. “We have problems enough without anything like that. Do try and rest!”

“I shall,” she said as she saw him out.

She finished unpacking and it was true that it was awkward without a maid to help. She supposed she had been spoiled at home by having plenty of servants. Perhaps it was a good thing for her to learn to be more self-reliant. She imagined that there had to be a cook and at least a housekeeper. She could not see the small Guido doing all the household work.

She pulled the velvet drapes at the two wondows and then stretched out on the canopied bed. Within a few minutes she had fallen asleep, for despite the heat of the day the palace’s thick stone walls kept its interior cool. If anything, it was a little too cool and damp.

She dreamt not at all and woke with a start to find that it was nearly eight o’clock. Startled by the swift passage of time, she quickly went about washing and dressing. She had chosen a light muslin in pale blue for this first evening and she went to some trouble to get her hair as right as possible. A few added touches of makeup to hide the pallor she suffered from the long, tiring trip and a discreet touch of perfume completed her toilet. Now she was ready to go down and join the others at dinner.

No one was in sight when she went to the landing. She started down the curving marble stairway wondering what was keeping Henry and her Aunt Isobel. As she reached a halfway point on the stairway she saw a dark-haired young man with a waxed mustache standing at the foot of the stairway gazing up at her.

He was formally dressed and so handsome she had not the slightest doubt that this must be Prince Raphael. She smiled at him as she continued on down and he returned her smile. But she was not prepared for what happened when she came face to face with him at the bottom of the stairway. He abruptly swept her into his arms and kissed her ardently.