The Rainaldi Quartet (36 page)

I sat down in a chair and closed my eyes. From the first notes I knew they were made for each other. When Delphin Alard first played the Messiah, Vuillaume said he heard the angels singing. As I listened now to the ‘del Gesù', I heard not the sound of angels, but the voice of God himself. I felt my eyes moisten, the tears well up and trickle down my cheeks. Never in all my life had I heard such a perfect combination of violin and player.

As the final chord rang out across the practice room, I opened my eyes and saw the look of pure, unconcealed joy on Sofia's face. She glanced at me, uncertain again.

‘I can't live up to it,' she said.

‘You can, and you will. That violin has been waiting a quarter of a millennium for the right companion. I think it's found its soulmate now.'

Sofia put the ‘del Gesù' down in its case and came to me, sobbing openly. I held her for a moment, then stepped back and smiled at her.

‘Not you too.' I gave her a handkerchief.

‘How can I ever thank you?' she said.

‘Thank your grandfather, not me. Let it remind you of him. Play it for him, Sofia.'

*   *   *

Guastafeste eased himself down into a chair and looked at the bottle of champagne that was chilling in an ice bucket on my garden table.

‘I thought we'd earned ourselves a little celebration,' I said.

‘Everything's arranged?' he said.

‘More or less. I've given Clara the sum we agreed, more than enough to provide for her old age. And I've sent a cheque to Mrs Colquhoun to cover the cost of repairing Highfield Hall. There's still plenty left.'

‘You thought any more about what we should do with it?'

‘That's what I wanted to discuss. I want you to have some of it, Antonio.'

Guastafeste shook his head. ‘No, I told you, I don't want any of the money. It wouldn't be right.'

‘Why not? You've earned it. Why should you be the only person to come out of this with nothing?'

‘I'm not the only person. There's you too.'

‘I've not come away with nothing.'

‘But … you said that…'

‘I don't mean money.'

‘Then what…' Guastafeste stopped. He was looking over my shoulder. I turned and saw Margherita standing at the side of the terrace. She was carrying a violin case.

‘I'm sorry, is this…' she began.

I stood up. ‘Let me introduce you. This is Antonio.'

Margherita came forward, her hand outstretched. ‘Ah, at last. Gianni's told me all about you.'

Guastafeste glanced at me. ‘He has?'

‘This is Margherita Severini,' I said. ‘Enrico Forlani's niece. Margherita and I are setting up a trust fund to lend out her late uncle's violins to young, promising musicians. Her idea, not mine.'

‘It was both of us, Gianni, you know that,' Margherita said.

I looked at Guastafeste. ‘You asked if I'd thought any more about the rest of the money. What would you say to adding it to the trust fund to provide music scholarships to young players?'

‘I'd say that was a very worthy cause,' Guastafeste said.

‘Let's drink to it.'

We sat together on the terrace and drank champagne. Then Guastafeste said he had to be going. I walked round to the front of the house with him.

‘She seems very nice,' he said.

‘She is. She's staying with me for a few days. Come for dinner tomorrow. I'd like you to get to know each other.'

Guastafeste looked at me, his eyes warm with affection. Then he embraced me impulsively.

‘I'm glad for you, Gianni. You deserve it.'

I watched him drive away, then returned to the terrace.

‘You brought it, I see,' I said.

Margherita handed me the violin case. I opened it and lifted out the Spohr Guarneri ‘del Gesù'. I studied it for a time, remembering the years of guilt that violin had caused me.

‘What are you going to do with it?' Margherita asked.

‘I'll show you.'

I took her down to the bottom of the garden where I had prepared a bonfire of old newspapers and twigs and prunings. I lit the fire and let it blaze for a while, stoking it with more garden waste. Then I picked up the ‘del Gesù' and held it for a time, preparing myself for what I had to do. For most of my life I have looked on violins as precious objects. Even the crudest, cheapest instruments – in my eyes – are worthy of respect for they have still taken many hours of labour to craft, and they are still as capable of making music, in their own way, as any Stradivari or Guarneri. But when a precious object is a lie – no matter how convincing a lie – it loses its right to respect. The Spohr ‘del Gesù' was a beautiful piece of work. I could admire the skill that had gone into its construction. But I did not regard it as my own work. It was not I who had made it, but a different, corrupted luthier. And because, for all my sins, I try to be an honest man, I had now to put an end to that lie.

I took a last look at the violin and placed it on top of the bonfire. I watched the flames lick around it, the varnish start to blister and crackle. The wood ignited, smouldering, then burning with a sudden, brilliant incandescence. I could see its shape, it was still recognisably a violin. Then its form began to change, the wood blackening, disintegrating and turning to ash as the fire consumed it. I looked away. I'd seen enough.

‘Why?' Margherita said.

‘To free my conscience,' I replied.

‘I don't understand.'

‘Some day I'll tell you.'

I took her hand in mine.

‘Now how about one of those duets you promised?'

Margherita smiled. ‘I'd like that,' she said.

Also by Paul Adam

Unholy Trinity

Shadow Chasers

Genesis II

Flash Point

THOMAS DUNNE BOOKS.

An imprint of St. Martin's Press.

THE RAINALDI QUARTET.
Copyright © 2004 by Paul Adam. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

ISBN 0-312-35004-X

EAN 978-0-312-35004-8

First published in Great Britain under the title
Sleeper
by Time Warner Books

First U.S. Edition: February 2006

eISBN 9781466831407

First eBook edition: October 2012