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‘And this man calls himself a hen-pecked mouse,’ she observed, to no one in particular.
‘I promise when we lock that door behind us I’ll be as docile as you like.’
‘Once you’ve got your own way, huh?’
‘That’s about the size of it,’ he said outrageously.
His home was a compact bachelor apartment, three storeys up in a condominium. On two sides were large windows, looking out onto the sea and the volcano. While she was rejoicing in the view Carlo took gentle hold of her from behind.
‘It seems ages since I made love to you,’ he murmured.
‘Shouldn’t we be getting to work?’
‘Everything in good time …’
After their lovemaking she assuaged her conscience about neglecting business by spending an hour sending e-mails and making calls. Then she mapped out some more plans for the series, and when Carlo awoke they worked together for an hour. It was fascinating to see him don a new personality—serious, dedicated, knowledgeable. She’d briefly glimpsed this ‘professor’ before, but the change was so startling that it was almost like meeting a different man each time.
But then he would catch her eye, and she’d realise that the other Carlo hadn’t gone away. He was merely biding his time. As was she.
In the afternoon they drove out to Pompeii and strolled through together, discussing camera angles and working out a script. Inevitably they ended in the museum where, after looking around for a while, Della returned to her favourite figures, the lovers curled up in each other’s arms. Carlo stood close by, watching her intently, as though he could read something in her manner.
‘It’s such total love,’ she murmured. ‘Completely yielding, reducing everything else to nothing.’
He nodded.
‘You wonder how they could really ignore the lava closing in on them,’ he said. ‘But of course they could—as long as they had each other.’
‘“How do I love thee?”‘ Della murmured. ‘“Let me count the ways.”‘
‘What was that?’ He looked at her intently.
‘It’s a poem, one of my favourites, written by a woman. She lists all the different ways that she loves her husband, and finishes, “If God choose, I shall but love thee better after death.” Elizabeth Barrett Browning lived nearly two thousand years after this couple, but she knew the same thing that they knew.’
‘What all lovers know,’ Carlo said. ‘When you meet the woman you want to marry—that you know you must marry—then it’s to death and beyond. If it’s not like that, it isn’t real.’
He was watching her in a way that suddenly made her heart pound, waiting for an answer she couldn’t give.
‘But this is real,’ he persisted. ‘I’ve known that from the start. Tell me that you’ve known, too. Tell me that you love me.’
It was a plea, not an order.
‘You know that I love you,’ she said.
He took her hand, turning it over to kiss the palm.
‘How do you love me?’ he asked with a touch of humour. ‘Can you count the ways?’
‘I’d better not,’ she said tenderly. ‘You’re quite conceited enough already.’
But he shook his head.
‘Not where you’re concerned. You do as you like with me, but that’s all right, as long as you love me.’
‘I could never begin to tell you how much I love you.’
He contrived to put both arms around her, leaning his head down so that his forehead rested against hers.
‘I think you might try,’ he murmured. ‘It’s the only thing I want from you—no, not the only thing. There is something else—but you know that. We can talk about it later.’
‘Yes, later,’ she said.
He was drawing her closer to the decision she dreaded facing.
‘Any time will do,’ he replied softly. ‘Because I know you won’t refuse me the thing I want most on earth. It’s what you want, too, isn’t it? You’ve made me wait for your answer, but—’
‘Darling—’
‘I know, I know. I said I wouldn’t hurry you, and that’s what I’m doing. I’ll try not to.’
‘But you can’t help it,’ she said, trying to tease him out of the dangerous mood. ‘You’re much too used to having your own way.’
‘That’s true,’ he said, his eyes glinting. ‘I like to have what I want, and what I want is—’
‘Hush!’ She laid her fingertips over his mouth. ‘Not here. Not now.’
‘As my lady pleases.’
The entrance of a party of schoolchildren made them pull apart and hurry away.
For the rest of the day he was relaxed and happy, content simply to be with her. Sometimes she would look up to find him smiling, at peace with the world.
And yet it was that which made her uneasy. Clearly he had no worries—like a man completely sure of her answer. The doubts that tormented her seemed not to trouble him. She wished that she could dismiss those doubts so easily.
Soon she must have a sensible talk with him, beginning, I’m far too old for you—
But that wouldn’t be the end, she reassured herself. Marriage was impossible, but they could stay together while they made the series—perhaps for a year. By then he would realise that she was too old for him, and things would come to a natural conclusion.
It was bliss to live with Carlo, to wake up with him, to be with him every moment and go to sleep in his arms, without having to wait for his arrival, bid him goodbye or worry about anyone else.
The only awkward note came one night when they dined at the villa. Luke and Primo had returned home, but Francesco was still there, also Ruggiero, who had brought Myra.
‘It was Mamma’s idea,’ he murmured to Della.
‘So I would have supposed,’ she murmured back, amused by Hope’s none-too-subtle way of reminding her that the trail led back from Myra to her grown son.
Not a word was said. Hope was too clever to press the point, and her manner to Della could not be faulted. She treated her as a guest of honour, and let it be known in a thousand little ways that if this was her darling son’s choice she was prepared to accept her.
Everyone except Myra was relieved when the evening was over. Della returned Hope’s implacable smile with one that she hoped was equally resolute, and sagged as soon as she got into the car.
‘Even I find them a bit overwhelming,’ Carlo said sympathetically.
They didn’t discuss the matter again until they were ready for bed, when she breathed out, saying, ‘Your mother doesn’t like me, and she’s never going to.’
‘It’s just a passing phase because she knows you’re the one and only. Nobody else has mattered like you. Wait until Sol finds his one and only.’ Carlo chuckled at the thought. ‘You’ll be exactly the same.’
‘Thank goodness he’s too young for that. The college has agreed to take him back, so I’m washing my hands of him.’
‘I’m glad to hear it. Or I would be if I believed it.’
Later she was to remember those remarks with irony. For now she was glad to let everything float away as she snuggled down in bed with him.
They made love sleepily, enjoying taking their time. The languorous pleasure seemed to hold her captive, making everything part of the same dream, a dream in which the world was simple.
‘Say yes,’ Carlo whispered. ‘Say you’ll marry me—it’s so easy.’
He was right. It was so easy. The word hovered on the tip of her tongue. In another moment it would be said and the decision made. So easy—
Her phone rang, breaking the spell.
‘If that’s Sol I’ll wring his neck,’ Carlo growled.
And it was Sol, sounding desperate.
‘Mum, is that you?’
‘Yes, it’s me. Sol, whatever is the matter?’
‘Gina just came to see me.’
‘Gina? Oh, yes—she was the one before Sally, wasn’t she? How is she?’
‘Mum, she’s pregnant.’
Della sat up in bed. ‘She’s what?’
‘She’s pregnant. She’s going to have a baby. She says it’s mine.’
‘Do you think it is?’
‘Well—yes, probably. We were very intense for a while, and I don’t think she’d have had much chance to—you know—’
‘I get the picture.’
‘Mum, what can I do? She says she wants to have it.’
‘Good for her.’
‘It’s not. It’s a disaster.’ His voice rose to a wail. ‘I’m gonna be a daddy.’
‘Sol, for heaven’s sake calm down.’
‘How can I calm down? It’s terrible.’
‘We’ll manage something.’
‘Will you come and talk some sense into her?’
‘Not the way you mean. I’ll come and offer her my help and support.’
‘Oh, yeah? So that she can make you a granny? Is that what you want?’
‘What does it matter what I—? What did you say?’
‘I said she’s going to make you a grandmother. Are you going to support her in that? Mum? Mum, are you still there?’
‘Yes,’ she said slowly. ‘I’m here. Sol, I’ll call you back.’
‘When are you coming home?’
‘Soon. Goodbye, darling. I can’t talk now.’
She hung up and sat there, not moving, sensing the world shift on its axis. Just a few words, yet nothing was the same. Nothing would ever be the same again.
She was going to be a grandmother.
‘What is it, cara?’ Carlo asked, startled by the sight of her face.
A grandmother.
‘Della, whatever’s the matter? What did Sol have to say?’
She remembered her own grandmother, a grey-haired elderly lady.
‘Cara, you’re scaring me. Tell me what’s happened.’
She was going to be a grandmother.
‘Della, for pity’s sake—are you laughing?’
‘Yes, I think I am,’ she gasped. ‘Oh, dear, I must have been mad. Well, I came down to earth in time.’ She was shaking with bitter laughter.
‘I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about.’ He tried to speak lightly, but there was a nameless dread growing inside him.
‘I’m not sure I really know myself,’ she said, forcing herself to quieten down before she was overtaken by hysterics. ‘I’ve been living in fantasy land—it’s been like a kind of madness, and I didn’t want it to end. But it had to. Now it has.’
She began to laugh again, a kind of gasping moan that drove him half wild.
‘Stop it,’ he said, seizing her shoulders and dropping down beside her. When she didn’t stop he gave her a little shake. ‘Stop that!’ he said, in a voice that sounded suddenly afraid.
