She awoke tired and pale, after only a few hours’ troubled sleep, as they rolled into the Stazione di Termini, overlooking the Piazza dei Cinquecento.
The Excelsior Hotel had sent a car to meet them there, and Sarah made her way indifferently toward the driver. She carried a small makeup case, her handbag, and she wore a large hat to shield herself from the Roman sun, but she was oblivious to everything around her. The driver pointed out various sights to them on the way to the hotel, the Baths of Diocletian and the Palazzo Barberini, and then the Borghese Gardens, as they approached the hotel. But in truth, she was sorry they had come, and she was dreading three weeks of sightseeing with her parents in Rome, Florence, and Venice, feeling the way she did after William.
When they reached the hotel, Sarah was relieved to be alone in her room for a while. She closed the door, and lay down on the bed with her eyes closed But the moment she did, all she could think of was William again. It was almost like being haunted. She got up, splashed cold water on her face, combed her hair, took a bath, which felt heavenly after the long ride on the train, dressed again in a fresh cotton dress, and an hour later went to find her parents. They had bathed and changed, too, and everyone seemed to feel revived in spite of the crushing heat of Rome in August.
Her father had planned an outing to the Colosseum that afternoon, and the sun was blazing as they explored each minute detail. It was late in the afternoon when they got back to the hotel, and Sarah and her mother were feeling seriously wilted by the heat. Her father suggested they stop for something to drink before they went upstairs, and even that didn’t really revive them. Sarah drank two lemonades, and she felt a hundred years old as she left the table to go back to her own room alone. She left them chatting there, over two glasses of wine, and she walked slowly back into the lobby, carrying the large straw hat she had been wearing since that morning, feeling vague, and thinking of nothing for once, which was a relief.
“Signorina Thompson?” One of the managers asked her discreetly as she passed the desk.
“Yes?” She was distracted as she glanced their way, wondering why they had called her.
“There is a message for you.” He extended an envelope to her, addressed in a strong, familiar hand, and she glanced at it, wondering absentmindedly how it had reached her so quickly. She opened it while still standing there, and all it said was “I will love you forever, William.” She smiled as she read the words, and slowly folded the letter and put it back in the envelope, realizing that he must have mailed it to the hotel before she even left London. As she began to walk slowly up the stairs to the second floor, her heart was full of him. Visions of him were flooding into her head, as someone brushed past her.
“Sorry,” she murmured without looking up, and then suddenly she was literally swept off her feet and into someone’s arms, and he was there, in Rome, in the hotel, and he was kissing her as though he would never let her go again. She couldn’t believe what had just happened. “What … I … you … William, where are you? … I mean … Oh my God, what are you doing?” She was breathless and totally shocked by what he’d done. But she was also very, very pleased, and he was delighted.
“I’m coming to spend three weeks in Italy with you, if you must know, you silly girl. You walked right by me in the lobby.” He had been pleased by how forlorn she looked. It was precisely how he had felt when he had left her at Claridge’s in London. It had taken him less than an hour after that to decide to throw all caution to the wind and meet her in Rome. And seeing her now made him doubly glad he’d done it. “I’m afraid I’ve got bad news for you, my dear.” He looked serious as he gently touched her cheek, and for an instant she was worried about his mother.
“What is it?”
“I don’t think that I can live without you.” He grinned broadly and she smiled in answer. They were still standing on the stairs, as people below them smiled, watching them talk and kiss. They were two very attractive young people in love, and it warmed people’s hearts just to see them.
“Shouldn’t we at least try to resist?” Sarah asked nobly, but she was too happy he had come to discourage him now.
“I couldn’t bear it. It will be bad enough when you go to New York. Let’s take the month and enjoy it.” He put his arms around her and kissed her again, just as her parents started up the stairs, and stopped to look at them in amazement. At first they couldn’t see who he was, all they could see was their daughter in a man’s embrace, but Edward knew instantly who it was, and he smiled at them with pleasure. They walked slowly up the stairs, and a moment later the four of them stood together. Sarah was flushed with happiness, and she was still holding William’s hand as her parents reached them.
“You’ve come to guide us around Italy, I see,” Edward said to him with amusement. “Very considerate of you, Your Grace. Thank you very much indeed for coming.”
“I felt it my duty,” William said, looking happy and a little sheepish.
“We’re very happy to see you.” He spoke for them all, and clearly Sarah, who was beaming. “It should be a much happier trip now. I’m afraid Sarah didn’t think much of the Colosseum.” Sarah laughed, in fact, she had hated every moment without William.
“I’ll try to do better tomorrow, Father.”
“I’m sure you will.” And then he turned to William. “You have a room, I assume, Your Grace?” They were becoming good friends, and the elder Thompson liked him.
“I do, sir, an entire suite of them, I might add. Very handsome. My secretary made the accommodation, and God only knows what he told them. Second in line to the crown at the very least, judging by what they’ve done.” The four of them laughed and walked up the stairs, chattering amiably about where they should go for dinner. And as they walked, William gently squeezed her hand, thinking of the future.
Chapter 9
And at the end of the week they moved on to Florence, for more of the same. Until at last, in their third week, they went to Venice. And by then, William and Sarah were closer than ever and more in love. They seemed to think and move as one. To people who watched them and didn’t know who they were, it would have been difficult to believe that they weren’t married.
“It’s been such fun,” Sarah said, as they sat by the swimming pool at the Royal Danieli late one afternoon. “I love Venice,” she said. The entire trip had been like a honeymoon, except that her parents were there, and she and William had not done anything they shouldn’t have, which hadn’t been entirely easy for either of them. But at the outset, they had promised each other they’d behave.
“I love you desperately,” he said happily, soaking up the sun. He had never been happier in his life, and he knew for sure now that he would never leave her. “I don’t think you should go back to New York with your parents,” he said half jokingly, but he opened one eye to see her reaction to what he was saying.
“And what do you suggest I do instead? Move in with your mother at Whitfield?”
“That’s a nice idea. But frankly, I’d prefer to have you with me in London in the house there” She smiled at him. She would have liked nothing more, but it was a dream that would never come to fruition.
“I wish I could, William,” she said softly, as he rolled over on his stomach and got up on his elbows to discuss the matter with her further.