For Liza’s sake, she insisted.
But she realised she wasn’t being quite honest with herself. His need was as great as the child’s, and the moment when he’d reached out to her in pain was the moment her defences had begun to crack.
At last Matteo came up the steps of the shallow end, pulled on a towelling robe and stretched out. He even took out the book Holly had bought him and turned it over and over. He read the blurb on the back page, then opened the book and began to read, casually at first, and then with obvious interest. He was deep in chapter one when Liza awoke and crept over to him.
‘Is it good?’ she asked.
‘Hm?’ he answered, not lifting his head.
‘Poppa!’
At last he looked at her, tearing himself from the book with difficulty, it seemed to Holly.
‘Is it good?’ Liza demanded.
‘Yes-yes, it’s good.’
‘What’s it about?’
‘It’s about a man in prison for something he didn’t do, and planning his revenge.’
‘Do you ever send innocent people to prison, Poppa?’
He looked aghast at the question. ‘I try not to. I don’t imprison anyone unless I think they’re guilty.’
‘But suppose you get it wrong?’ Liza asked remorselessly.
To Holly’s delight Matteo was bereft of words. He looked across at her wildly, but she was beyond being able to help. She simply lay back in the grass and chuckled.
‘I’m sorry,’ Holly said at last, moving over to them. ‘Liza, you’ll have to let this go for now. But when you’re older you must become a lawyer, and then you can study your Poppa’s cases and tell him where he got it wrong.’
‘All right,’ Liza said, satisfied.
‘Thank you,’ Matteo said wryly.
Having settled the future, Liza returned to the book.
‘Does he do lots of horrible things to his enemies?’ she demanded of her father.
‘I think so. I haven’t got very far in yet. I’ll let you know.’
Liza gave a happy sigh.
‘How can she be such a ghoul?’ Matteo murmured to Holly as Berta took Liza down the steps into the pool.
‘Because she’s a child. Children love that kind of thing.’
‘After what happened to her-’
‘It’s not the same. This is a book, nothing to do with reality.’
She stopped, seeing a sudden change in his expression.
‘What is it?’ she asked. ‘You haven’t really sent an innocent man to gaol, have you?’
‘Not that I know of. Of course, they all protest their innocence. Sometimes the worse they are the more vehemently they protest. The worst one I ever knew was Antonio Fortese, a murderer who escaped too often.’
‘Is he the one you told me about, who threatened you so that you needed a bodyguard?’
‘That’s right. He swore he was innocent, but he was as guilty as hell. As you know, I gave him thirty years. He deserved every moment of it. Now he can threaten all he likes. He’s locked up in a high-security gaol.’
‘Maybe it wasn’t very clever of me to choose that particular book.’ Holly sighed.
‘Why?’ he asked, amused. ‘Do you think it’s going to give me nightmares? Forget it. Characters like Fortese are just part of the way I live. This-’ he waved the novel ‘-is light relief.’
‘Well, I’ll tell you this: Liza’s got a much higher opinion of you now that she knows you can get lost in a good book.’
‘I won’t deny that it has a certain readability.’
‘That’s why you didn’t answer her at first, isn’t it?’
Suddenly he grinned. ‘Yes, I must admit I couldn’t put it down.’
In this mood he was delightful, and she had to remind herself to stay cautious. There was a long way to go before there could be any true communication between them.
Anna appeared from between the trees, looking concerned.
‘Signore, there is someone-’
‘No visitors, I told you,’ Matteo said.
‘But Signore-’
Matteo looked up, irritated. Then his expression changed as he saw the elderly lady who stepped out from behind Anna.
‘Mamma!’
Liza gave a little shriek and joined her father in hurrying to embrace his mother. She seemed to be in her sixties, a smiling woman of great elegance who clearly inspired affection in Matteo and Liza.
Holly watched her curiously, certain that this was no coincidence. She was even more certain a few moments later when she was called forward to be introduced, and saw the old woman look her up and down, clearly comparing her to some mental picture she already had.
‘I’m sorry I didn’t warn you I was coming,’ she said, ‘but it was an impulse.’
‘You know you’re always welcome,’ Matteo said warmly. ‘Let’s go inside.’
Holly knew, from Anna, that Matteo’s father was dead and his mother, Galina, had since remarried. Her husband was an invalid, and the two of them lived down south, in Sicily, where the weather suited him better. It was quite a journey to make on the spur of the moment.
‘My stepdaughters came to see us,’ she explained as they walked back to the house. ‘They prefer having their father to themselves, so I left with a clear conscience. It’s too long since I saw my favourite granddaughter.’
‘I’m your only granddaughter,’ Liza pointed out.
‘Then you must be my favourite,’ Galina returned with triumphant logic.
The rest of the day was taken up with settling her into her room and arranging the evening meal to her liking. Holly withdrew, not wanting to intrude on the family, and didn’t see them again until she went downstairs for supper.
Berta was there too, and Galina greeted her as an old acquaintance. Holly said little but her mind was working furiously. Instinct told her that she was under inspection.
At any other time she would have been amused at Matteo’s demeanour towards his mother, which was respectful. He might be a man of authority to the rest of the world, but he was nervous of his mamma. Now and then his eyes darted to Holly, as though checking whether she was making a good impression.
At last the meal was over. With relief, Holly suggested that it was time for Liza’s day to end.
‘Berta and I will bring her up later,’ Galina said. ‘Why don’t you go off duty?’
It was a dismissal and she had no choice but to accept it.
Perhaps the decision had gone against her, she thought. Hence the choice of Berta. This might even be her last night in the house. It wasn’t so very long ago that she had longed for the means to escape. Now she would have given anything to stay.
Just why she longed to stay was something she wasn’t quite sure about yet, but it was no matter. The decision was being taken out of her hands.
At last Galina arrived with Liza, already half-asleep. Together they put the child to bed and saw her nod off at once.
‘We did not mean to be so late,’ Galina said softly, ‘but Liza had a criminal matter she wished to discuss with her father.’
‘A criminal matter?’
‘Something to do with a book they were enjoying together.’ Her eyes twinkled. ‘Your doing, I fancy.’
‘Oh, I see. Yes, it’s a thriller.’
‘Then it’s definitely your doing. When I see my son deep in a thriller I know he’s come under a new influence. Of course, I already knew that.’
‘I don’t understand. How could you know?’
‘Because he talks of you so much. We telephone each other many times, and always he talks about you. Of course, he is very discreet, very proper. He tells me how good you are being to Liza, and how the child benefits from your care. And so I find myself curious about this wonderful person, and I decide I must meet her for myself. And now that we have met, I think I am starting to understand. I see how Liza loves you, how much good you’re doing her.’
‘But I wonder exactly what Matteo has told you.’
‘He has told me all I need to know. If there is more-he will tell me that too in his own good time. Let us leave it for now. I am pleased with what I find here. My son begins to look alive again and that is all I want after the way he has suffered.’ She added calmly, ‘Perhaps he is falling in love with you.’