‘A bit confused.’
‘That’s my fault. I’ve been giving you a hard time. But no longer. We got everything sorted out, didn’t we?’
‘I suppose so.’
She spoke cautiously, and he smiled, assuming a firm, efficient voice.
‘Don’t worry. I’ve got things in perspective. I don’t know what took me so long.’
A faint uneasiness began to stir in Polly’s brain. This clear-sightedness was surely what she’d wanted, and yet-
Misunderstanding her worried look, he said, ‘It’s all right, Polly. It’s all over. She’s gone. After all, she never actually existed, did she?’
Irrationally she wanted to say, She existed in your heart, but she was lost for words. She should be glad of his recovery. Instead she felt a creeping dismay that made no sense.
‘Freda existed. Sapphire didn’t,’ she agreed.
‘She was an invention-a role she’d decided to play. But then the curtain came down, the heroine vanished, and the idiot was left alone on the stage, not realising that the performance was over.’
‘Don’t call yourself names,’ she said firmly.
‘You’re right, it’s boring.’
‘That wasn’t-’
‘Did I try your patience very hard?’
She shook her head. ‘You had something beautiful and I was taking it away. I don’t blame you for wanting to hold onto it.’
‘Except that it wasn’t beautiful,’ he said with a shrug. ‘It was stupid and dishonest, and it made me weak. I won’t let that happen again.’
The way he emphasised ‘that’ increased her unease.
‘There’s nothing wrong with a little weakness if it means needing people,’ she said. ‘Trying to be self-sufficient all the time just leads to trouble.’
‘You said something like that to me the first time we met,’ he remembered wryly. ‘In fact you’ve always had a pretty poor opinion of me. And you were right. I finally stood outside and got a good look at myself. Mio Dio! What a sight! But no more. I’ve got a job to do, and with your help I’m going to do it.’
‘A job?’
‘I have to learn to be a father to my son.’
The words should have made her rejoice, but she was struck by the cool efficiency of his manner-as though he were ticking off tasks on a worksheet. His love, once so sweet to him, had been revealed as a con-trick-to be dismissed along with the side of his nature that was capable of those feelings. Now his relationship with his son was the next assignment on the list.
She shivered.
‘I’d better start with some toys, hadn’t I?’ he said. ‘What does he like?’
‘Cuddly things. I don’t know what Italian shops sell.’
‘Fine, we’ll go shopping. That means a taxi. What a pity my car’s still at the villa.’
‘Makes no difference. I wouldn’t let you drive it.’
‘Wouldn’t let me-?’
‘Nope. And wipe that outraged look off your face, because it’s wasted on me. You’ve fallen into the hands of a real bully now.’
‘I think I’d already guessed that. All right, a taxi it is.’
In the city centre they found a large toy shop and explored it from top to bottom. Polly’s mood soared. The day was bright, the sun high in the sky, and his manner was engaging. Surely she was worrying about nothing?
‘Why are you looking at me?’ he asked once. ‘Wait-let me guess. It’s the first time I haven’t been scowling at you.’
‘I ignore scowls. It’s just the first time I’ve seen you looking cheerful,’ she teased.
He grinned and put an arm around her shoulder, moving carefully for he was still sore.
‘Let’s spend some money,’ he said.
This wasn’t what she wanted from him, but it was a start. And spending money proved to be as enjoyable as she’d always heard it was.
The toys were dazzling. And an array of magnificent teddy bears rose high on the shelves, making Polly sigh with longing.
‘They’re so beautifully made it seems almost criminal to give them to a child who’ll pull them about,’ she mourned.
She selected a fluffy bear with golden fur, about a foot high with large, mournful eyes.
Ruggiero plunged into the important business of explaining his needs to an assistant. Polly couldn’t follow the words but she gathered he was doing everything methodically, giving precise specifications-just as if he were ordering spare parts for the factory, she thought.
But he was doing his best, and she appreciated that.
When she saw the collection he’d amassed she stared.
‘They’re for children developing hand-eye co-ordination,’ he explained. ‘He can pull this one along behind him, and he also has to fit the shapes into the right holes. With this one he presses buttons with animal pictures, and it makes noises.’
‘What kind of noises?’
‘Animal noises. Moo and cluck.’
To demonstrate he pressed the cow button and the cow mooed.
‘Let me try,’ she said, entranced, pressing the chicken button.
A horse neighed.
‘That’s not right,’ she said. ‘That should be a chicken.’
Ruggiero experimented and the same thing happened. He tried the horse button, and a duck quacked. An assistant bustled over, looking concerned.
‘Houston, we have a problem!’ Polly intoned.
Commotion followed. The staff took out toy after toy, pressing buttons to see if they made the right noises- which they didn’t. The shop was filled with the sounds of a barnyard. Passers by stopped and stared in.
The manager was called. He too pressed buttons, without receiving the right sounds in return.
‘It’s a new consignment,’ he wailed. ‘They must all be faulty.’
‘Do you have anything of the same kind?’ Polly asked.
Luckily a similar toy had just come in, based on wild animals, which turned out to be properly connected. Lions roared like lions, elephants trumpeted like elephants, baboons gibbered. Everyone was happy, if slightly hysterical.
‘We’ll take this one,’ Ruggiero said with relief. ‘And these.’ He indicated all the other toys that he’d collected.
‘Aren’t some of them a bit complicated for a toddler?’ Polly asked.
‘Maybe not. Maybe he’s brighter than we all think.’
‘Of course he’d bound to be a genius with such a father,’ she said caustically, and he smiled.
He then tried to carry them all out of the shop-which was mistake since neither his ribs nor his shoulder were ready.
‘We need to call a taxi from the nearest firm,’ she said.
‘Nonsense. I’ll be all right in a minute. We just have to pick one up outside.’
Polly didn’t waste time answering this. Instead she turned to an assistant and tried to request him to telephone for a taxi. After some confusion he understood.
‘Why didn’t you help?’ she asked Ruggiero.
‘Because I was having too much fun watching you.’ He added provocatively, ‘You must allow me a few innocent pleasures.’
‘I’ve just remembered I forgot to bring your pills with me,’ she observed casually.
His horrified stare was very satisfying. He wasn’t the only one who enjoyed innocent pleasures.
When the taxi drew up at the villa Hope came flying out, eager to see them, but even more eager to tell her
