Lucy Gordon - Married Under the Italian Sun

‘You’re not going to help me, are you?’ she asked, almost laughing, so sure she was of her victory.

Again he shook his head, but now he too was on the verge of laughter.

‘I can’t,’ he said. ‘You might not be going to say what I hope you’re going to say, and then think what a fool I’d look.’

‘Couldn’t you risk looking a fool, just for me?’

‘Nope! You take the risk.’

It was no risk at all, and they both knew it. He was hers as completely as she could ever want.

‘Do you want me to go down on one knee?’ she teased.

Then he really did laugh, reaching forward and taking her hands to draw them to his lips.

‘If you’re sure,’ he said. ‘You were right about the problems, but-’

‘We’ll find the way around them.’

‘Yes, we will. I know that now. If only-’

A crack of laughter interrupted him. Looking round, they saw a beefy young man standing there regarding them sardonically. Vittorio cursed under his breath, recognising Mario, the young lout who had taunted him in the shop the day he’d collected the magazine.

‘Oh, it’s you,’ he said wearily. ‘Go away!’

‘Why should I go? The entertainment around here is great. I don’t know when I’ve had such a laugh.’

‘Do you know him?’ Angel asked.

‘I employed him once, and fired him for being useless,’ Vittorio said.

‘Just a little misunderstanding,’ Mario said. ‘I’m not clever, like you.’ He regarded both of them, and his mouth twisted in a sneer. ‘You managed it, then. That’s really clever.’

‘What are you talking about?’ Angel asked.

‘You don’t know? Signora , this man is a clever operator. He knew what he had to do to get his property back, and he did it. Just how long did it take him to wheedle his way into your bed, and how long-?’

The last words were choked off by Vittorio’s hands around his throat. It took three men to pull him off.

Mario got to his feet, gasping. ‘You’ll be sorry for that,’ he choked.

‘Get out,’ somebody said. ‘How long do you think we can hold him?’

Mario fled.

‘All right, let me go,’ Vittorio snapped.

Cautiously they released him. His face was deadly pale, but he was in command of himself now.

‘Let’s go,’ he said. ‘Where’s the bill?’

‘I paid it,’ Angel said. She’d done that quietly, so that they could get out of there without delay.

A strange look crossed his face. ‘Of course you did,’ he said.

Once outside Vittorio crossed the road towards the beach and began to walk along it. His shoulders were hunched and he looked a completely different person from the happy man of only a few minutes ago.

‘You really scared me,’ she said, tucking her hand into the crook of his elbow. ‘I thought you were going to kill him.’

‘I might have done,’ he growled.

‘Why?’

‘Why?’ He turned to face her so abruptly that her hand fell away. ‘Why? Did you hear what he was saying?’

‘Yes, but so what? He’s a cheap lout. Who cares what he thinks?’ Then enlightenment dawned, or so she thought. ‘You’re not seriously worried that I think that, are you? Because I don’t.’

‘What he thinks, others will think,’ he growled. ‘And they’ll say I played a cynical game to win you over and recover what used to be mine.’

‘But I don’t think it. The others don’t matter because they don’t know what’s between us. But we know.’ For the first time something in his manner made her falter. ‘Don’t we?’

He stood before her, the moonlight on his face making it livid.

‘Do you remember how you once taunted me?’ he asked. ‘You said that you could play any part, and fool me. “ I could say anything if I wanted to. How would you know the difference? ” Those were your words. And they were true. You boasted of having a dozen techniques. “ There’s a way to make a fool of almost any man. You just have to find what it is. ”’

‘And you’re throwing that up against me now?’ she whispered, horrified.

‘No, I’m not. I know you well enough not to believe those words. But how well do you know me? Don’t you realise that I might have the same skills? I could say anything if I wanted to. How would you know the difference?’

‘Because I trust you,’ she cried.

‘Why? Because I told you that you could? Are you so sure I was telling the truth?’

‘Don’t!’ she screamed, turning away, her hands over her ears. ‘Don’t try to turn my trust against me. Don’t use my love as a weapon.’

‘I have to, because it’s the only weapon that can make you see the danger. Perhaps I’m sharper than you allowed for. I did it well, didn’t I? I made love to you so cleverly that I even got you to propose to me, and I did it without once telling you that I loved you.’

Angel was silent, stricken. It was true that he had never said it.

‘Are you saying that you don’t love me?’ she asked.

‘If I said that I did, would you know it was true?’

In the long silence that followed she felt the wind begin to whip around her, with a soft, moaning sound. How cold it was suddenly.

‘I thought I would-once,’ she said slowly.

He put his hands on her shoulders, drawing her close and speaking with his mouth almost against hers.

‘Do you know now?’ he murmured.

With her head swimming, Angel realised that she knew nothing. He could tell her any lie and convince her. But she had already accepted the risk, knowing in her heart that he was worth it. Why couldn’t he believe that about himself?

Or was it her that he couldn’t believe?

‘Vittorio-why are you doing this?’

‘Because I can see the future,’ he said simply. ‘When we have our first serious quarrel-and we’ll have it-it’ll be terrible because there’s a cruel devil in me.’

‘I know,’ she said softly.

‘And I’ll read in your eyes that you’re thinking the same as the rest of them, trying to guess how many lies I told you to serve my own ends, wondering if you were a fool to trust me. And then I’ll go mad.’

She stepped back sharply.

‘Oh, you coward,’ she breathed. ‘You talk about me trusting you, but it’s you who can’t trust me. It’s funny, isn’t it? Earlier we were talking about risks, and you said I must take the risk. Because you can’t take one.’

‘That’s not what I-’

‘No, it’s not what you meant, but it’s what I can understand. You’re not the only one who can see the future. You’ve just shown it to me. I’m not afraid to risk everything, but you are. I’d have taken any chance with you, and trusted you through thick and thin, but all you see is your neighbours sniggering. Well, I tell you this, if their opinion is so much more important to you than mine-then to hell with you!’

‘Angel, listen-’

‘I’ve listened enough and you have nothing to say that I care to hear.’ She took a step back. ‘You warned me once that you could only do things on your own terms. I should have listened.’ She sighed distractedly and ran a hand through her hair. ‘Let’s not talk any more now.’

‘I’ll drive you home.’

‘No, I’ll get a taxi. You have to start your journey early tomorrow, and when you come back-when you come back…’

‘Angel,’ he said, almost pleading.

‘I told you before, don’t call me Angel. It’s not who I am.’

‘Who are you?’ he said slowly.

‘I don’t know. I thought I did, but you’ve made me see so many new things-things I don’t like. I can’t talk now. Goodbye.’

Angel turned quickly and walked away across the sand. At this moment she wanted nothing so much as to get away from him. She had told him that she could see the future. She saw it now, and it broke her heart.