made her first frown, then stare.
They were wedding pictures, reminding her that Leo had recently been to the marriage of his brother, Guido. There were the bride and groom, the bride gorgeous in white satin and lace, the groom with a wicked, appealing face. And there, next to him, was Leo, dressed as she’d never seen him before.
Dressed for best. In costly finery. With a top hat!
So what? Everyone dressed up at weddings.
But there was something in the background that wouldn’t be dismissed. Chandeliers, old pictures, mirrors with gilt frames. The clothes fitted perfectly, which hired clothes never did. And the people had the awesome confidence that came with money and status.
A strange feeling, something like dismay, was starting to take over her stomach, prior to invading the rest of her.
‘They just arrived.’
Leo was standing in the doorway, smiling in the way that could make her forget everything else.
‘Let me introduce you to my family,’ he said, coming forward and sorting the pictures. ‘That’s my brother Guido, and Dulcie. These two cheesy characters here are her father and brother, and if I never see them again it’ll be too soon. This one here is my cousin Marco, and that’s his fiancee Harriet. And this man is my uncle Francesco, and his wife, Liza.’
‘What’s that place behind all of you. Did you hire the town hall or something?’
‘No,’ he said casually, ‘that’s my uncle’s home.’
‘That? He lives there? It’s like a palace.’
Leo’s tone became even more casual. ‘I suppose that’s what it is, really.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘It’s called the Palazzo Calvani. It’s on the Grand Canal in Venice.’
‘Your uncle lives in a palace? What is he, royalty?’
‘No, no, nothing so grand. Just a count.’
‘What was that? You mumbled that last word.’
‘He’s a count,’ Leo said reluctantly.
She stared at him. ‘You’re related to a real count?’
‘Yes, but on the wrong side of the blanket,’ he assured her, like a man arguing mitigating circumstances to a crime.
‘But they know you, don’t they?’ she accused him. ‘You’re part of the family.’
He sighed and admitted it.
‘My father was Uncle Francesco’s brother. If his marriage to my mother had been valid I’d be-well-the heir.’
She turned an appalled gaze on him.
‘But it wasn’t,’ he placated her, ‘so I’m not. That’s Guido’s problem, not mine. And boy is he mad at me about it. Like it was my fault. He doesn’t want it any more than I do. All I ever wanted was this farm and the life I have here. You’ve got to believe me, Selena.’
‘Give me one reason I should ever believe a word you say again.’
‘Now, come on, I never lied to you.’
‘You sure as heck never told me the truth either.’
‘Well, did you give me your life story from day one?’
She had him there.
‘And you’re not being logical,’ he changed tack hastily. ‘If I was that poor, how come I knew Barton, and went to visit him?’
‘You sold him some horses, you told me. And you can get cheap air tickets these days. And there’s other things. This place, the people, the land-the way you talked I thought you rented some dirt-poor little place at the back of beyond, but you own it don’t you?’
‘I’ve never pretended about that.’
‘And how much do you own? You’re the
‘Rather more than that, actually,’ he confessed miserably.
‘You could buy Barton out, couldn’t you?’
He shrugged. ‘I don’t know. Probably.’
‘I thought you were just a country boy-you let me think that. But you’re really more like a-a tycoon.’
‘I
‘You’re a country tycoon, that’s what you are.’
She was pale with shock.
‘Leo, be honest with me for the first time since we’ve known each other. Just how rich are you?’
‘Darn it, Selena, are you only going to marry me for my money?’
‘I’m not going to marry you at all, you conceited-’
‘I didn’t mean it like that, you know I didn’t.’
‘All those things I said to you, about millionaires not being real people-’
‘Well, now you know you were wrong.’
‘The hell I do! I reckon you’ve proved me right about all the worst. I wouldn’t have thought you could do a thing like this to me!’
‘What have I done?’ he implored the room. ‘Will someone please tell me what I’ve done?’
‘You’ve pretended to be one thing, while actually being another.’
‘Well, of course I did,’ he roared. ‘I wasn’t going to take the chance on losing you. Think I didn’t know? Sure I knew. We hadn’t met five minutes before I knew you were the most awkward, unreasonable female with no common sense. I didn’t want to scare you off, so we played by your rules. I couldn’t even tell you I’d-’ He stopped with his feet at the edge of the precipice.
‘Tell me you’d done what?’
‘I forget.’ But then, with her eyes on him he reckoned he might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb. ‘All right, the van and the horse trailer-they came from me.’
‘You-bought the replacement van-and horse trailer?’
‘And Jeepers. Selena, the insurers would have laughed at you. You knew that yourself. It was the only way to get you back on the road. I just hoped you wouldn’t find out, or that you wouldn’t be too mad at me if you did.’ He studied her face, hardly daring to believe what he saw there. ‘Why-are you laughing?’
‘You mean-’ she choked ‘-that you were the miracle after all? Not Barton?’
‘Yes, me, not Barton.’
‘No wonder you looked green around the gills when I said that.’
‘I could have killed him,’ Leo confessed. ‘I wanted to tell you the truth but I couldn’t, because I knew you wouldn’t want to be beholden to me. But I’ve thought of a way around that. We get married and then it’s your wedding present, and we’re all straight.’
She stared. ‘You’re serious, aren’t you?’
‘Well, the way I see it, if you marry me, all that disgusting money will be yours too, and then you’ll have to shut up about it.’
She considered this. ‘OK, it’s a deal.’
She didn’t say she loved him then. She said it later that night, when he was breathing deeply beside her, the sleep of peace and satiety, as he always did when they’d released each other from passion by indulging it without limit. He slept heavily, so she could smooth his hair, kiss him without his knowing, and whisper the words she didn’t know how to say when he heard her.
Another night he brought wine and peaches, and they sat feasting and talking.
‘How do your family come to be out here?’ she asked. ‘If you’re Venetian counts, what are you doing in Tuscany?’
‘How can you ask? Everyone knows the evil aristos commandeer property wherever they can. That’s how we keep our feet on the necks of the deserving poor.’
