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.Welcome to Milano and our family!”Equally warm, Enrico had echoed his wife’s sentiments, which ought to have reassured Cassandra.And perhaps it would have, had Benedict not grown correspondingly more remote, more preoccupied.But immediately upon arrival at the Manzini residence, he’d disappeared without a word into Enrico’s home office, and left his wife to fend for herself.“Family business,” Bianca had explained apologetically, noticing Cassie’s dismay at being so soon abandoned among strangers.“Always with this family, the business must be attended to first, and then we play.So, cara, while our men pore over legal documents and international import regulations, come and meet my children.They’re so eager to greet their new aunt, and you’re here for such a short spell this time, that I kept my son home from school today so that he could make the most of your visit.”As she spoke, she’d led the way to a large sunny room at the rear of the house, where a boy worked on a model aircraft at a table, and a girl played on the floor with a doll house.Both of them dark and beautiful like their mother, they stopped what they were doing and stood politely during the formal introductions.“Hello,” the boy had murmured shyly, shaking Cassie’s hand.“You are welcoming to Italia.”“Stefano’s been practicing saying that in English ever since Benedict phoned to let us know he was bringing you to meet us,” Bianca told her in an amused aside.“I’m afraid, though, that he still doesn’t have it quite right.”“Never mind,” Cassie had replied, completely won over by the boy’s smile.“His English is a whole lot better than my Italian.He puts me to shame.”The girl, Pia, unwilling to remain in her brother’s shade, rattled off a stream of Italian of which only Ciao! meant anything to Cassie.But she understood what was expected of her when the child tugged at her hand and pulled her over to admire the doll’s house which, with its elaborate facade and rooms full of exquisite furniture, was truly a work of art.“A gift from Benedict,” Bianca said.“He’s a very indulgent uncle and will be, I’m sure, an equally indulgent husband.”Perhaps not, if his recent attitude was anything to go by, Cassie thought now, letting the drapes fall back into place as Benedict and Bianca disappeared from view, although his apparent devotion to his niece and nephew boded well for his own child.But then, she already knew that because, as he was so fond of saying, “The baby comes first.”Down below, a door thudded closed and voices, one deeply resonant as only a man’s could be, the other feminine and full of laughter, drifted up from the entrance hall in a vivacious burst of rapid-fire Italian.Opening the bedroom door a crack, Cassie caught the occasional word—domani…bambini, and her own name, Cassandra.Beyond that, she hadn’t the first clue what her husband and sister-in-law were talking about, and promised herself that, tomorrow, she’d buy an Italian phrase book at the airport, and study it during the short flight to Calabria.Hopefully, if she memorized a few common expressions—I’m very pleased to meet you.How are you? You have a lovely home—it might persuade her new mother-in-law to look upon her more favorably.And Benedict? Would her effort to absorb something of his culture and background move him to treat her with the kind of warmth he’d initially shown when he sought her out again in San Francisco? Or was his present courteous reserve all she had to look forward to, now that he’d achieved his ambition and made her his wife?Oh, he was kind enough, in an abstract sort of way, but somewhere between his asking her to marry him, and her saying “I do,” the sexual electricity which had charged their every encounter had flickered and died.Beyond a sedate kiss on the cheek, an impersonal hand at her elbow to help her cross the street or climb out of a car, he made no attempt to touch her anymore.At first, she’d put down the change in him to his having too many other matters occupying his attention, too many demands on his time.She’d told herself that, once they’d left all the rush behind, and it was just the two of them in Italy, he’d be his former self again and the old attraction would resurface.But it hadn’t happened.If anything, with each passing hour, he became more…absent mindedly paternalistic.And she hated it!The moon, now fully risen above the trees, cast a pale and melancholy light over the room, and reduced the warm wood of the elegant furniture to a chill, tomblike gray.And she, on her supposed honeymoon, sat propped up by pillows, alone in the wide, wrought-iron bed.Too drained to flick on the reading lamp and lose herself in the paperback novel lying in her lap, too homesick for the familiar comfort of her own house and friends, and too at odds with her tangled emotions to take refuge in sleep, she stared into the semi-darkness.How long she remained like that, utterly motionless, utterly miserable, she neither knew nor cared.At some level, she was aware of the house gradually sinking into peaceful silence, but it could have been hours or only minutes before she heard the well-oiled snick of the door opening, and saw Benedict’s tall figure on the threshold, silhouetted by the soft glow of a night-light in the upper hall.Quietly, he closed the door, and picked his way across the floor, clearly intending to shut himself in the adjoining dressing room so as not to disturb her.But she, anticipating just such a move, announced coldly, “It’s quite all right to turn on the light, Benedict.Contrary to your express command, I am not sleeping.”Startled into dropping the shoes he’d been carrying, he let out a smothered exclamation, and groped for the switch on the bedside lamp.“Then why the devil are you sitting here in the dark?”She blinked in the sudden bright glare.“What does it look like?” she said.“I’m waiting for my husband to come to bed, the way all brides do on their honeymoon.Or isn’t that the custom in Italy?”CHAPTER SIXHE MADE a big production of removing his jacket and tie, and hanging them in the wardrobe.“If I’d known you were still wide-awake—”“You’d have done what?” she snapped, glaring at his back.“Stayed here to keep me company, instead of going for an evening stroll with your sister?”He spun back to face her, a frown creasing his brow.“I wasn’t aware you knew we’d gone out.Were you watching us?”“I saw you, which isn’t quite the same thing [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]