Lucy Gordon: The Secret That Changed Everything

‘I could ask about Sicily, couldn’t I? Is that where you keep a secret wife, or perhaps two secret wives? Now that would really be interesting.’

‘Sorry to disappoint you but there’s no wife, secret or otherwise. I was born in Sicily, but I left it years ago, and I’ve never been back. The life just didn’t suit me. Like you, I went exploring the world, and I ended up with a family who owned vineyards. Vines, wine-making, I loved it from the start. They were wonderful to me, practically adopted me, and finally left the vineyards to me.’

And he’d turned them into a top money-making business, she thought. That was clear from the way he dressed and the way others reacted to him.

They were reaching the end of the street. As they turned the corner Charlotte stopped, astonished and thrilled by the sight that met her eyes.

‘The Trevi Fountain,’ she breathed. ‘I’ve always wanted to see it. It’s so huge, so magnificent….’

This was no mere fountain. A highly decorated palace wall rose behind it, at the centre of which was a triumphal arch, framing the magnificent, half-naked figure of Oceanus, mythical god of water, ruling over the showers that cascaded into the pool below. Everywhere was flooded with light, giving the water a dazzling glitter against the night.

‘I’ve read about it,’ she murmured, ‘and seen pictures, but—’

‘But nothing prepares you,’ he agreed. ‘Some things have to be experienced before they become real.’

Nearby was a café with tables out on the street. Here they could sit and watch the humming life about them.

‘Nice to see people having a good time,’ she murmured.

‘Does that mean your life is unhappy now?’

‘Oh, no,’ she said quickly. ‘But it does tend to be a bit too serious. Legal documents, history books. Not exactly filled with fun. And sometimes you need to remind yourself about fun.’

He regarded her curiously, thinking that a woman with her looks could have all the fun she wanted with all the men she wanted. So there was a mystery here. But he was too astute to voice the thought.

‘But Italy should remind you of fun,’ he said. ‘It’s not all cathedrals and sober history.’

‘I know. You’ve only got to stroll the streets of Rome in the twilight, and see—well, lots of things.’

His grin and the way he nodded spoke volumes about his own life. Doubtless it was full of ‘twilight activities’, she thought. And they would be fun. She didn’t doubt that either.

‘Anyway,’ she went on, ‘my favourite Italian was—’

She named a historical character with a legendary reputation for wickedness.

‘He wasn’t as bad as people think,’ Lucio observed. ‘He was actually quite a serious man who—’

‘Don’t say that,’ she interrupted him quickly. ‘You’ll spoil him for me. If he’s not wicked he’s not interesting.’

He regarded her curiously. ‘There aren’t many people who’d see it that way.’

‘But it’s true.’

‘Certainly it’s true, but we’re not supposed to say so.’

‘Well, I’m always doing things I’m not supposed to. That’s why I’m the black sheep of the family.’

‘Because you eloped at seventeen?’

She chuckled. ‘There were a few more things than that. There was the politician who came to hold a meeting in New York, all virtue and pomposity, except that he’d spent the previous night in a place where he shouldn’t have been. I’d seen him leaving and I couldn’t resist getting up at the meeting and asking him about it.’

‘Shame on you!’ he said theatrically.

‘Yes, I have no sense of propriety, so I’m told.’

‘So you’re wicked and interesting, eh?’

‘Certainly wicked. You know, everyone has their own talents. My sister Ellie is a talented dancer, my sister Alex is a talented vet—’

‘And you’re a talented linguist.’

‘Oh, that! That’s just earning a living. No, my real talent, the thing at which I’m practically a genius, is getting my own way.’

‘Now you really interest me.’

‘It can always be done, if you know how to go about it.’

‘Cunning?’

‘Certainly. Cunning, devious, manipulative, wicked—whatever it takes.’

‘Is that the real reason you broke off your career to go travelling?’

‘In one sense. I wanted to find another world, and I’m finding it. That’s the way to live. Know what you want, and don’t stop until you get it.’ She raised her glass to him. ‘I guess there’s probably a lot of interesting wickedness in your own life.’

He assumed a shocked air.

‘Me? No time for it. I’m far too busy earning a respectable living, I assure you.’

‘Right. I’ll believe you. Thousands wouldn’t.’

He grinned. ‘You do me an injustice.’

‘No, I don’t. Any man who proclaims himself respectable needs to be treated with suspicion.’

‘I protest—’

‘Don’t bother because I won’t believe a word you say.’

They plunged into a light-hearted argument with much vigour on both sides, but also much laughter. When she looked at her watch she was amazed to see how much time had passed. She had a strange sense of being mentally at one with him. Almost like a brother.

But the next moment he turned his head so that she saw his profile against the glittering light from the fountain. Not brotherly, she thought. Disconcertingly attractive in a way that eclipsed other men, even Don. Or perhaps especially Don. But definitely not brotherly.

She remembered the first time she and Don had ventured beyond kisses, both eager to explore. But something had been missing, she knew that now.

‘Are you all right?’ Lucio asked.

‘Yes, fine.’

‘Sure? You seemed as if something had disturbed you.’

‘No, I guess I’m just a bit hungry.’

‘They do great snacks here. I’ll get the menu.’

‘I’ll just have whatever you’re having.’

He ordered spicy rolls and they sat eating contentedly.

‘Why are you looking at me like that?’ she asked.

‘Just trying to solve the mystery. You don’t strike me as the kind of woman who goes along with whatever the man orders.’

‘Dead right, I’m not. But this is new territory for me, and I’m learning something fresh all the time.’

‘So I’m part of the exploration?’

‘Definitely. I like to find something unexpected. Don’t you?’

‘I sometimes think my life has had too much that’s unexpected. You need time to get used to things.’

She hoped he would expand on that. She was beginning to be intrigued by everything he said. But before she could speak there was an excited cry as more crowds surged into the piazza, eager to toss coins into the water. For a while they both sat watching them.

‘It’s the age of science,’ she reflected. ‘We’re all supposed to be so reasonable. Yet people still come here to toss coins and make wishes.’

‘Perhaps they’re right,’ he said. ‘Being too reasonable can be dangerous. Making a wish might free you from that danger.’

‘But there are always other dangers lurking,’ she mused. ‘What to do about them?’

‘Then you have to decide which ones to confront and which to flee,’ he said.

She nodded. ‘That way lies wisdom. And freedom.’

‘And freedom matters to you more than anything, doesn’t it?’ he asked.

‘Yes, but you must know what it really means. You think you’re free, but then something happens, and suddenly it looks more like isolation.’

A sudden bleakness in her voice on the last word caught his attention.

‘Tell me,’ he said gently.

‘I thought I knew my family. An older brother and sister who were twins, a younger sister, but then it turns out that there’s been a big family secret all along. It began to come out and—’ she gave a sigh ‘—I was the last one to know. I’ve always been closest to Matt, even though he can be so distant sometimes, but now it’s like I’m not really part of the family. Just an outsider, in nobody’s confidence.’