‘And didn’t she make the most of it! I don’t know what wiles she used to worm her way in here, but a creature like that-’
‘Like what? You don’t know her.’
‘I know her kind, a common little baggage who’ll use her position here to get a rich boyfriend, or even husband. Then she’ll walk out and leave Liza weeping. You should get rid of her before any damage is done.’
Holly knew she should walk away. Eavesdropping was disgraceful behaviour. But no power on earth could have made her leave without hearing what Matteo would say about her. She would just have to resign herself to being disgraceful.
Matteo sounded as though he was maintaining his good temper with an effort.
‘I know that Andrea isn’t the most perfect of husbands, but he’s had a roving eye for years, not just tonight. It’s unjust to blame Signorina Holly for what was not her fault.’
‘She’ll be setting her cap at you next.’
‘I doubt it. In any case, my heart is armoured and nothing will change that. She’s here for Liza’s sake, and for no other reason. Believe me, I know what the problems are, and I know how to take care of them.’
From where she stood Holly could clearly see him. She saw, too, the moment when he raised his head and nodded as if he’d come to a decision.
‘And just how are you going to take care of them?’ she murmured.
She moved softly away, curious but not alarmed. These days she was beginning to feel that nothing could scare her any more.
To her relief she heard nothing from Lionello, but two days later Tomaso Bandini called and invited her out.
‘Don’t even think of it,’ Matteo said when she told him. ‘He’s too “unfinished” for you.’
‘I disagree. It sounds fun. I haven’t been to Rome yet and it’s time I went.’
‘Of course. You’re entitled to some enjoyment. I shall arrange it.’
‘Oh, really!’ she exclaimed, torn between antagonism and something that was suspiciously like delight. ‘You’re so organised! You plan this, you plan that-’
‘And I shall plan a pleasant evening out for you. As you so rightly remark, I’m good at arranging things.’
There was something in his manner that might almost have been humour. It was hard to be sure.
Holly decided to accept Tomaso’s invitation anyway, and wrote him a note saying so. He wrote back saying that he was devastated to be unable to make good his promise, but a sudden increase of work had made it necessary etc. etc.
She had no difficulty in seeing Matteo’s hand behind this, and it made her relish the next stage of the battle even more. Squaring up to Matteo was becoming a pleasure in its own right.
She heard the opening shots being fired when he informed her at breakfast the next morning that his car would call for her that evening at eight o’clock. She was about to protest at this way of taking her consent for granted when he leaned towards Liza, saying conspiratorially, ‘I’m showing Holly some of the city tonight, if you agree.’
‘I’m sure Liza would prefer that I remain with her,’ Holly said.
‘But you never enjoy yourself,’ Liza protested. ‘You should go out.’
Having been outwitted, Holly gave up and merely asked, ‘Where are we going?’
‘You’ll see when we get there. But wear your black dress.’
She didn’t even bother to argue. Besides, she was secretly longing to wear the black dress.
Holly knew she was right when she saw herself in it that evening. Its slinky seductiveness suited her slim figure, making her feel good about herself as nothing had ever done before. Her make-up was discreet. She needed little artificial help tonight. Her whole being glowed.
Carlo, the chauffeur, was ready on the dot, and handed her into the sleek black car. As they sped into Rome he said, ‘You enjoy the opera,
‘We’re going to an opera house?’
‘In a sense. The judge is waiting for you at the Caracalla Baths.’
‘Baths?’ she echoed cautiously.
‘The Emperor Caracalla built a public bath complex nearly two thousand years ago. It’s a ruin now, but every summer there are performances of operas.’
The light was fading fast by the time they entered the city, and her first view of the huge stone ruin was in floodlight. Before she had finished gazing with delight she saw Matteo, tall and elegant, standing by the kerb, waiting for her. He was in a dinner jacket and black bow-tie, and even in the crowds that thronged the streets he stood out as an impressive man.
‘Take the rest of the night off,’ he told the chauffeur as he handed Holly from the car.
Close by was a small bar, and he led her inside. ‘We have time for a drink before the performance.’
As she seated herself she was aware of him studying her with approval.
‘I see you resisted the temptation to send that dress back,’ he said. ‘I’m glad. I thought at the time that the black would suit you better than the red.’
‘At the time? You mean, on that first evening? Just how far ahead have you been planning?’
He shrugged lightly. ‘No good lawyer allows himself to be outwitted by unforeseen events.’
‘So when I turned up in your compartment on the train, you had anticipated everything?’
‘Well-perhaps not quite everything,’ he conceded, smiling at her.
She smiled back, enjoying the shared joke. But at once she wished she hadn’t. It simply wasn’t safe to laugh with this man and risk something irresistible coming into his eyes, with double the force as they met hers directly.
Holly had a sudden mischievous urge to ask just how far ahead he had organised her life, and whether she would be allowed any say in it at all, but wisdom made her suppress it. They had a distance to travel yet and there would be time enough to tease him.
‘Which opera are we going to see?’ she asked, changing the subject to something safer.
‘It’s a concert tonight. I think you’ll enjoy it. It starts at nine o’clock, so we should be going soon.’
Her first close look at the Caracalla Baths astonished her.
‘I thought it would be a sort of swimming pool,’ she said, looking around at the open-air theatre under the stars, the huge stage, flanked by two great, ancient brick columns.
‘It was a lot more than a swimming pool,’ he said, enjoying her awe. ‘There was a gymnasium, a sauna, a hot bath, a warm bath and a freezing bath. After that you got to swim in the pool, browse in the library or wander the grounds. Now all that’s left is a ruin-’
‘But what a ruin,’ she said, turning right round, and then again. ‘And all the grandees used to bathe here?’
‘Not just grandees. There would be nearly two thousand at a time. This place was for everyone. We Romans do things properly.’
‘We Romans,’ she said with a hint of teasing. ‘You make it sound as thought it’s all still happening.’
‘But it is,’ he said. ‘Look around you.’
She did so, and saw how the crowds were pouring in, how the lights made the ruins vivid. After nearly two thousand years this place was alive in a way that many new buildings would never be.
And so was the man looking at her with a vibrant intensity that she couldn’t dismiss. He threw everything else into shadow, and made her conscious of each part of herself, responding to him.
The concert was a selection of light music, popular arias, bouncy overtures and Strauss waltzes. As the music washed over her, filling her with ease, Holly knew that Matteo had chosen perfectly. It was like being caught up in a delightful dream of which he was a cleverly unobtrusive part. She could sink into it or emerge from it, as she pleased.
Now, she felt, she understood his plan. He was trying to enchant her, even to make her fall a little in love with him-and all to keep her reserved for himself and Liza.
But she knew he had no idea of loving her in return. She had heard him say, ‘My heart is armoured, and nothing will change that.’ This was merely to keep her away from the attentions of other men. He would coax her just so far into love, then say, Stay there! as he might to an obedient dog.
Cheeky, she thought, more amused than annoyed. But at least I know what you’re up to, so there’s no harm done. And I’ve discovered that I can play games, too.
‘Why are you smiling?’ he asked her as the applause died away.
