Venetian Masquerade (8 page)

“Gabriel will be back tomorrow,” said Sonya. “Shall we all have dinner together? I’ll make some pasta and salad for everyone?”

“That’s a great idea,” Amy said with a yawn. “I have missed him.”

“Have you?” murmured Sonya, and almost to herself, she added, “So have I.”

Chapter Six

T
he following morning dawned wet and cool. Autumn was taking a grip, and the
vaporetti
chugged to and fro in the choppy lagoon where the waterscape was colorless, mist hanging over the distant silhouettes of the Bell Tower and Doge’s Palace.

Amy took the children to school and returned to find some post on the kitchen table. There was a letter from her mother, some utility bills, and an envelope from Benedetto International in Rome. Nervously, she tore it open and sighed with relief to find it was a formal letter telling her that most of Maria’s assets had now been successfully transferred to her name and asking for instructions. It was signed by someone she had never heard of, so she began to hope she had a breathing space before Alessandro made any connections about her whereabouts through his company. Feeling happier, she went shopping and returned at lunchtime to find Gabriel at the house.

He gave her a hug and beamed at her.

“I’ve just talked to my architect friend, and he has heard informally that the plans for Hotel Maria will be accepted. You should get a letter in a week or so, but in the meantime, we…sorry, I mean you can decide which builders you want to go with. They could get started in the middle of October, and the main part of the house and your apartment could be ready in about three months.”

“In time for the Venice Carnival! That’s wonderful news, Gabriel. But I really do want you to help me make some of the big decisions, if you don’t mind.”

“My pleasure,” he said. “The first decision you have to make is where you are going to live while all this is going on. You could move in with me if you like. I have a spare room you could share with James.”

“That’s sweet of you, but you live a long way across the lagoon. It would be difficult with school for James, so I think we shall simply stay here and tough it out. The kitchen is a relatively straightforward job; they will take out all the old-fashioned stoneware and replace it with modern stainless steel. It shouldn’t take more than a few days, and during that time, we could stay with Sonya. Once the water and electricity are back on, we can move back into the bedroom we have now, and the men can work around us. We don’t mind a bit of dust and noise; it will be fun and exciting.”

“It sounds like a nightmare to me, but if you are sure…” Gabriel looked appalled.

“Absolutely,” she said firmly.

“You’re a very remarkable woman, Amy. By the way, did you consider our discussion?”

She went to him and put her arms around his waist. “Gabriel, I can’t tell you how much it meant to me that you would be willing to marry me, and I will always love you for it, but my answer is no. It would be wrong for both of us and destroy a most precious friendship.”

“Ah well, rejected again…” He grinned at her. “But no hard feelings, and now that’s out of the way, let’s get down to work.”

They spent the rest of the day working and fine-tuning plans, and by the evening, they had chosen a builder who could start the next week as soon as planning permission was official. Gabriel suggested it was worth the extra money to ask the builder to put in a big team to reduce the time of the conversion.

Sonya, who had arrived to collect Donna. watched them poring over papers, alternately laughing and quarrelling gently between themselves as they always had, her lovely grey eyes clouded with longing.

Things began to move quickly the next week. Skips arrived outside and were quickly filled with rubble, the old house reverberated to hammering and drilling, and clouds of dust floated into the road. Carmela and Antonio had moved temporarily to stay with their daughter and son-in-law while flat hunting. They planned to live nearby and were determined to be involved in the new project; Amy was delighted and quite sure Maria would approve of that. After staying for a week with Sonya and Donna, Amy and James moved back into the villa and were amazed at how much progress had been made. The kitchen was once more operational, and much of the really messy work had been completed—walls were down where walls had to come down and rebuilt where they had to be rebuilt. Sonya and Amy set up a running buffet for the builders in the kitchen, which bought them a great deal of good will. The building was a hive of activity, and Amy thought it was positively one of the happiest times of her life, except, of course, for those wonderful months with Alessandro.

At first, she lived each day expecting him to find her. Every time the phone rang, she jumped out of her skin; every time someone rang the doorbell, she peeped fearfully from a window, expecting to find him standing on the doorstep. But there was nothing, and in truth, she didn’t know whether to be happy or disappointed. Perhaps he had decided his wife would not cope with the fact that he had a son—and for sure, his family would have strong opinions on that too—so maybe he had decided to stay away from her and James, the very opposite of what she had expected.

But she still had to deal with telling James about his father, and the opportunity came one Saturday when James was feeling very miserable with a streaming cold and wracking cough. The builders had finished for the weekend, and Amy brought the little boy downstairs into the kitchen, where it was warm. He sat sniffing over a warm drink into which he was dipping some biscuits before sucking them noisily.

Out of the blue, James suddenly said, “Is my papa in Heaven with Donna’s?”

Amy felt a tremor run through her. “No, James,” she said at last. “He is still alive.”

“Why doesn’t he live with us like a proper papa, then? Doesn’t he love us?”

“James, if he met you, he would love you very much and be very proud of you. But he and I are not friends, and we couldn’t live together.”

James was quiet for a few minutes. “Everyone says Donna looks like her papa… Do I look like my papa?”

Heartbreakingly
, thought Amy, tears close to the surface. “Yes, James, you look very much like him. He’s extremely good-looking and clever, just like you.”

“Why can’t I see him? Other children in my class see their papas even though they don’t live with them.”

“It isn’t possible at the moment, but maybe one day.”

“Then, can I have a puppy?”

“Oh, James—” She laughed. “Yes, you can have a puppy.”

And so, a few days later, Snoopy, a two-month-old mongrel puppy with floppy ears, big brown eyes, and even bigger feet came to live them. James said nothing more about his father, but Amy knew that sooner or later, she would have to tell him the whole truth.

One evening a few days later, Gabriel called in and invited Amy to a concert in a small church next to St. Mark’s Basilica. “You haven’t been out for ages, Amy, and I have a spare ticket, so come on—take a break and come and listen to some Vivaldi and Mozart.”

“It sounds absolute heavenly, thank you. I’m sure Carmela will babysit. But I insist on taking you to dinner somewhere expensive first to say thank you for everything you’ve done for us.”

“How expensive?”

“Very.”

“It’s a deal,” He grinned. “I’ll go home now to change and make myself presentable…”

“And I’ll take a
vaporetto
to St. Mark’s and meet you there at say, seven?”

“I’ll book a table at Danieli’s.” And he jumped into his boat and roared off down the canal.

Amy spent a blissful hour soaking in a hot, deep, scented bath. She hadn’t had a chance to dress up in months, so she gave herself a manicure, grimacing at the rough hands and chipped nails which had worked so hard for so long. She swept her dark curls into an elegant topknot and made up her face carefully before slipping on a very elegant little black dress, which showed off her figure to perfection. Gold sandals completed her outfit. Pleased, she twirled in front of a mirror.

“You look pretty, Mama.”

“Thank you, James. It’s nice to dress up for once.”

“Are you going out with Gabriel?”

“Yes, darling—we’re having dinner and going to a concert.”

“If you married Gabriel, would he be like my papa?”

“James, I won’t be marrying Gabriel. He’s our friend and we all love him, but no, he won’t be like your papa. But he is like an uncle, isn’t he?”

“I want a papa.”

Amy hugged him. “I know, James. I know. I wish I could solve that for you. Now, why don’t you go and play with Snoopy in the garden?”

“Okay.” Looking rather forlorn, he clattered down the bare staircase, but Carmela and Antonio soon had him laughing, throwing a ball for the puppy outside.

It was a cool, still evening, and taking a warm wrap with her, Amy strolled to the boat quay and sat watching the twinkling lights around the bay. The
vaporetto
was approaching, overflowing with workers on their way home. She found a seat and enjoyed the half hour journey to St. Mark’s Square, where Gabriel was waiting.

He beamed with pleasure as she stepped off the boat. “You look gorgeous,” he enthused, kissing her warmly and taking her hand.

“So do you.” Gabriel, in immaculate evening dress, looked more than presentable, and she slipped her arm through his as he led her to his favorite restaurant in Danieli’s Hotel, next door to the Doge’s Palace.

“Oh, this is so beautiful.” She sighed with pleasure as they entered the pink-marbled lobby with its wonderful Rococo staircase.

“It was originally built for the Dandolo Doge of Venice in the fourteenth century,” Gabriel told her. “But now it is furnished in the eighteenth century style, which was of course the real heyday of Venice. It‘s the place where you are likely to see the rich and famous dining, especially during the carnival and the film festival in a couple of weeks.”

“Well, I feel rich and famous tonight, so let’s go and swagger into the restaurant like stars.”

She took his hand, and laughing, they wandered into the fabulous dining room to be greeted with a bow by the head waiter. He led them to a table overlooking the lagoon, now alight with thousands of lights on boats and gondolas. Happily, she swiveled in her chair, surveying the other diners, and then froze. At a table a few yards away was Alessandro, talking intently to a very glamorous blonde. He lifted his gaze to Amy and stared at her with eyes like flints. Amy turned back to Gabriel, pale with shock.

“What is it? You look as if you’ve seen a ghost."

“Alessandro. He’s over there by the pillar, and he’s with his wife.”

“Ah… Well, don’t let him see you are flustered. You knew this had to happen sooner or later. Now, what shall we choose from this delectable menu? I’m ravenous…Amy, ignore him!”

Amy took a deep breath, gave Gabriel a weak smile, and decided he was right; the evening was not going to be spoiled by Alessandro. “Will you order some champagne, Gabriel? I think we deserve it.”

“Good girl.”

Gabriel signaled the waiter, and a few moments later, they toasted each other.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but will you kiss me?” she asked.

“With pleasure.” And he did so, first on the lips and then raised her hand to his mouth, enabling him to hide a wicked smile.

To her surprise, Amy was able to enjoy her dinner, in spite of Alessandro’s presence, and she managed to resist the urge to turn and look at him. Gabriel kept making her laugh, and to anyone watching them, and especially to Alessandro, they looked like a young, very attractive couple deeply in love. Finally, when they rose to leave, she turned with some trepidation to face the table where Alessandro had been sitting. But it was empty.

The concert afterwards was a very emotional experience for Amy. The beautiful music by Vivaldi and Mozart was played by a string quartet, accompanied by a young soprano with a voice that reached to Heaven. It seemed to touch a chord within Amy’s heart, and she sat letting it wash over her. In her imagination, the music drifted into a bedroom, where she lay entwined with Alessandro, whispering words of love, making promises...so many things that could never be.