Expecting The Fellani Heir

‘I’m sorry,’ she said hastily. ‘I didn’t mean to hurt you.’

‘Don’t apologise. It was an accident. The world seemed to change that night, as though we’d become different people.’

‘Yes, that’s true. I no longer really know what to think about anything.’

‘Is that why you refuse to marry me?’

‘I haven’t actually refused. I just can’t take it for granted, the way you did. I don’t like being given orders.’

‘That’s not what I did.’

‘But it is. You just assumed I’d jump at the chance to marry you. How arrogant is that?’

She gave a brief laugh. ‘I once looked up your name and found that Leonizio means ‘lion-like’. That says it all about you. The lion rules the plains, and Leonizio thinks he can rule wherever he likes.’

Briefly she wondered if she was wise to risk offending him, but his smile contained only wry amusement.

‘Except for the lioness,’ he said. ‘She could stand up to him better than anyone else.’

She nodded. ‘As long as he understands that.’

‘He understands completely. And he knows he’ll have to be cleverer than usual to achieve victory.’

‘But he doesn’t really doubt that he’ll be the winner, does he?’

‘Tact prevents me answering that.’ He raised his glass. ‘Here’s to victory—for both of us.’

She raised her own glass and they clinked.

‘As long as we each understand what victory means,’ he said. ‘You know what it means to me but—’ He paused.

‘You just can’t understand why I don’t jump at the chance to marry you, can you?’ she said.

‘I’m not the conceited oaf that makes me sound. As a person I may not be likeable. I understand that.’

‘Is that what your wife said?’

‘She said plenty about me. None of it good, in the end.’

‘In my experience, marriage ends badly. My parents divorced. You’re about to be divorced. It’s par for the course, it seems. Can you blame me for refusing you?’

‘Yes, but don’t forget that not all marriages need end that way. Ours would be different. We would be entering it with our eyes wide open. What do I have to offer to persuade you?’

‘You don’t understand. It’s what I’d lose. My country, my career, my freedom, my independence. I’m not ready to rush into it.’

‘Not even to benefit our child?’

‘But does marriage always benefit the child?’ she asked. ‘My parents were married and the unhappiness filled the air. I need to know—this is going to sound crazy to you—but I need to know that we can be friends.’

‘I don’t think it’s crazy at all. It makes sense.’ He gave a contented nod. ‘We’ve got a while to get to know each other, and hopefully like each other.’

‘Yes,’ she said eagerly. ‘That’s the luckiest thing that can happen to a child, that its parents can be best friends.’

‘You think that’s luckier than if the parents love each other?’

‘It can be. Friendship doesn’t have so many ups and downs, so many dramas and crises. I can remember coming home from school wondering if my parents were speaking to each other today. When I got the lead in the school play they each came to a different performance. It would have been lovely if they’d come together and we’d had an evening as a happy family, but—’ she shrugged ‘—that’s how it was.’

Suddenly they were surrounded by applause. A man had appeared, bearing a guitar. He bowed to the guests at the tables who were applauding his entrance, and began to sing. Ellie listened with pleasure as he made his way between the tables, coming close until she could see him clearly. Noticing that she was delighted, Leonizio signalled to the man. He approached them, carolling cheerfully, until Leonizio held out a generous tip. He bowed and departed. When he finished his performance she clapped eagerly.

‘That was lovely,’ she said. ‘It’s such a nice, cheeky song.’

‘You understood it?’ Leonizio asked, astonished. ‘But he was singing in Roman dialect. I know you understand some Italian, but dialect?’

‘My grandmother used to sing it to me when I was a little girl. She came from Rome; she was born and spent her early years in Trastevere and she told me so much about it that I longed to see it. I loved my grandmother so much. I used to call her Nonna when I knew that was what Italians called their grandmothers. Now I’m here I feel wonderfully close to her.’

‘Tell me about her.’

‘She’s the reason I’d heard of the Venere. Years ago she worked here as a chambermaid.’

‘Here? In this very building?’

‘Yes. Then she met an Englishman who was a guest, and they fell in love. He took her back to England with him. They married and had a son, my father. Sadly, my grandfather didn’t live very long. Nonna mostly brought up my father on her own. When he married my mother she lived with them, looking after me.

‘So you’re nearly as much Italian as English?’

‘In some ways. My mother didn’t really like my grandmother very much. She said Nonna was a bad influence on me. She was very cross one day when she found her playing me some music. It was opera and my mother said it was way above my head.’

‘And was it?’

‘No, I like opera because of its terrific tunes. That’s all.’

‘So if I want to take you to an opera that would be a mark in my favour?’

‘It would be lovely.’

‘You’re so knowledgeable that I’m sure you know about the Caracalla Baths.’

‘They were a kind of spa built by the Emperor Caracalla nearly two thousand years ago. There’s very little left standing, but what’s left is used as a theatre for open-air performances.’

‘Right. They open every summer, but this year they’re doing a special run in April. We’ll get the programme and you can take your pick.’

‘That’s lovely. Oh, how I wish I had Nonna here now so that she could see me becoming her real granddaughter after all this time. She died many years ago, and I miss her so much.’

‘You’re going to enjoy Rome, I promise you.’

Of course he wanted her to enjoy Rome, because it would make it easier for him to persuade her to stay and marry him. A slightly cynical voice whispered this in her mind, but she refused to let it worry her. Leonizio was handsome and attentive and part of her simply wanted to relax and be with him.

A sudden loud noise announced the arrival of a crowd. The waiter dashed around, trying to find room for them all. Ellie closed her eyes, trying to shut out the commotion. These days she tired easily.