‘I don’t think she’ll knock you back,’ she said. ‘Although you may have to come to your big sister for some advice.’
‘Now go on with the story,’ Hope commanded. ‘Tell us some more about this man she married.’
‘She feels guilty about his death because they were quarrelling, he chased after her and was run over in the road. He died in her arms. As a man-’ Luke shrugged. ‘He seems to have been a good-natured fellow, kind and affectionate. He was a truck driver, so I doubt if he’d ever have set the world alight, but he made her feel loved.’
‘Oh-ho!’ Hope exclaimed, regarding him with slightly scornful irony. ‘So a truck driver has thrown you into the shade! You, of course, know all about setting the world alight, but have you ever made a woman feel so deeply loved that she never recovered from your loss?’
‘Never,’ he growled. ‘There’s no need to labour the point, Mamma.’
‘No, because you’ve seen it for yourself, haven’t you? You spoke lightly of throwing everything else aside for her sake, but were they only words, or could you live up to them if you had to? You might make her love you in a way, but suppose you can’t also drive his ghost away? Can you live with him there, too, for her sake?’
‘That’s the thought that torments me. Does she love me, or does she merely cling to me from need?’
‘And, if it’s the second, can you love her anyway? Love isn’t like a book-keeping ledger, my son. You don’t always get equal repayment in return for what you give. Do you love her enough to settle for less, as long as she is happy?’
‘I wish I knew myself better. Tonight we were together out here, and there was a moment when I thought I could make love to her. But I didn’t. Something stopped me, something in here-’ He laid a hand over his heart.
‘What was it that stopped you, my son?’
‘He was there and I couldn’t get rid of him, and if I can’t, how can she? I told her I’d never make love to her until I came first, but-’
‘But suppose you never do?’ Olympia asked gently. ‘What then?’
He was silent for a long moment, before saying wretchedly, ‘I don’t know. Heaven help me, I don’t know!’
Minnie was packed and ready to go next morning.
‘Of course you must attend to your work,’ Hope told her kindly, ‘but you must return to us soon. Luke, I rely on you to arrange it.’
The others came to bid her goodbye, including Franco, who said, ‘You must forgive me for not remembering your name. I was jet lagged out of my mind last night.’
‘This is Signora Minerva Pepino,’ Luke said.
Only the most astute observer would have noticed the sudden frisson that went through Franco. Minnie was too occupied with her troubled thoughts to sense anything.
Luke walked her to the car. ‘I’ll be in Rome in a day or two,’ he said.
‘Your mother may want you to stay longer.’
‘I can’t risk it,’ he said lightly. ‘Who knows what legal mischief you’ll get up to in my absence? I’ll be there soon. Count on it.’
‘Let’s hope they’ve finished renovating your flat,’ she said lightly.
‘Are you that anxious to throw me out?’
‘Goodbye,’ she said, extending her hand and giving him a smile. It contained no warmth, only finality.
‘Goodbye,’ he said, taking her hand, not knowing what else to say or do.
He watched as she drove away, then walked slowly back to the house.
Franco was on the steps, staring at the road down which Minnie had driven away. He looked puzzled.
‘What is it?’ Luke asked.
‘Nothing, I-did you say her name was Pepino?’
‘Yes.’
‘Minerva Pepino?’
‘That’s right. Have you heard of her?’
‘I might have. And her husband’s name was-?’
‘Gianni.’
Franco drew in a sharp breath.
‘Whatever’s the matter?’ Luke asked. ‘Did you know Gianni?’
‘Not well, but yes, I met him a few times.’
‘In Rome?’
‘No, here in Naples. He used to come here often.’
‘That’s right, he collected things in his truck.’
‘So he may have done, but he also came to see a woman.’
Luke’s head jerked up. ‘That’s impossible. He was happily married until he died four years ago.’
Franco shrugged. ‘Maybe he was, but I’m telling you that he had a woman here, and a son.’
CHAPTER TWELVE
‘AND I tell you, you’ve got it wrong. You’re confusing him with someone else.’
‘The man I knew was called Gianni Pepino, he had a wife called Minerva and she was a lawyer in Rome.’
Luke poured himself a glass of brandy, and drained it in one gulp. Somewhere inside him an earthquake was taking place.
‘I don’t believe it,’ he murmured. ‘She adored him. She still does.’
‘Well, he certainly managed to pull the wool over her eyes,’ Franco said. ‘The girl is called Elsa Alessio, and the child is called Sandro. He got her pregnant when he was down here one summer, fooling around. He was only eighteen, and there was never any talk of marriage. She was older, a divorcee, and she had some money of her own.
‘From the way he talked, they weren’t in love or anything. They just had a fling and stayed friends. He used to come here to see her and the boy, then go back to Rome. After he got married he just kept on visiting her, chiefly to see his son and give her money-’
‘I thought you said she didn’t need money.’
‘She didn’t need to marry him, but a decent man supports his child, and maybe a little extra as a present for her.’
‘Bastardo!’ Luke said softly.
‘Why? Gianni loved his wife, and what happened before they married didn’t concern her.’
‘But he never told her.’
‘Of course he didn’t. Why hurt her for nothing?’
It was a point of view, Luke realised, with which a lot of men would sympathise. But he was conscious of a burning anger for Minnie’s sake.
‘How often did he visit her?’ he demanded.
Franco shrugged. ‘How do I know? But I had a friend who knew him better, and he said Gianni used to boast of those visits.’
‘Boast? How?’
Franco shrugged. ‘How do you think?’
‘Perhaps you should tell us, my son,’ Hope said quietly from the shadows.
Franco jumped. ‘Mamma. I didn’t know you were there.’
‘Evidently, or you wouldn’t be indulging in foolish, loose talk. Minnie was a guest under our roof. How dare you spread such stories?’
‘I didn’t invent it, Mamma. It’s true.’
‘How much is true? About the child? Perhaps.’
‘And he boasted that he could have Elsa whenever he wanted,’ Franco said.
‘And do you know that he was telling the truth? Does one believe every word that a boastful young man says? I don’t think so. Listen, my son, you are not to say another word of this matter. Rumours can hurt people, even when they are unfounded, and I would not have Minnie hurt for all the world. Please promise me that you’ll forget this and never repeat it.’
‘All right, Mamma. I promise.’
‘And you’d better keep that promise,’ Luke said, ‘or I’ll throttle you.’
‘I’ve forgotten everything I ever heard, I swear it.’
Looking sheepish, Franco kissed his mother’s cheek and departed, careful to avoid Luke’s eye.
Luke didn’t speak for a while after Franco left. He stood looking out over the terrace, brooding. ‘It can’t be true, can it?’ he asked at last.
‘He had the right names,’ Hope said. ‘It could be true about the child.’
‘Bastardo!’ Luke said again. ‘She thinks he was so wonderful, and all the time-’
‘But why are you angry?’ she asked him. ‘Surely this solves your problem?’