The Tuscan Tycoon’s Wife

‘Now you’re going to bed, as you promised,’ she said firmly when they got home.

‘Only if you come with me.’

‘You’re not well enough.’

‘I’m well enough to hold you against my heart,’ he said. ‘That’s what I’ve missed the most. Don’t you know that?’

He was still a very odd colour but he moved more easily, and when he’d settled into bed he was able to put his arms about her without wincing too much.

‘Are you going to be all right for the journey next week?’ she asked.

‘Sure, Venice is no distance, and I wouldn’t miss seeing Marco’s wedding for anything. And don’t worry, just because they’re marrying in St Mark’s, that doesn’t mean that people will start nagging us to do the same. They understand that we’ll be marrying here.’

He sighed. ‘It can’t be soon enough for me. We might go down to the church and talk about it tomorrow.’

Silence.

‘Carissima? Is something the matter?’

‘Don’t let’s rush anything, Leo.’

‘Well, I can’t rush anything, can I? Look at me. I need to get fully fit because I want to enjoy our wedding day, but that won’t take long-’

‘No, that’s not what I mean.’ She sat up, evading his hand that would have drawn her back.

‘Leo, I do love you, please believe that. And now that I’ve come back I won’t go away again. It hurt too much. But in a sense, nothing has changed. The things that were wrong before are still wrong now.

‘I won’t leave you, I swear it, but-I can’t marry you.’

CHAPTER TWELVE

FOR breakfast Gina had a wide choice of dishes, each one a favorite of Leo’s, which she pressed on him until he begged for mercy.

‘I’ll clear away, Gina,’ Selena said. ‘I know you’ve got masses to do.’

‘Si, signorina.’ Gina nodded and went on her way.

‘That’s it,’ Leo said when she’d gone. ‘Gina’s accepted you as her employer. As far as she’s concerned it’s a done deal.’

‘Gina’s flattering me. I wouldn’t know how to run a house and she knows it even better than I do.’

‘Of course. That’s her job. Your job is to leave everything to her. But haven’t you noticed that these days she asks you, not me?’ He rested his fingertips on the back of her hand. ‘Signora Calvani,’ he murmured.

‘Leo-I told you last night-’

‘I was hoping that was a nightmare,’ he groaned. ‘You went away so soon afterwards-’

‘You weren’t saying anything.’

‘I was trying to pretend it hadn’t happened. Selena, please let’s forget last night. After everything that’s happened we weren’t our normal selves.’ When she shook her head he demanded, ‘Are you trying to send me white haired?’

‘I can’t marry you. I couldn’t be a countess if my life depended on it. Your uncle won’t live for ever. What happens when you inherit? One day you’ll want to do the whole “count thing” properly, Venice, the palace, society, the whole lot.’

‘Me?’ he demanded aghast. ‘Selena, for pity’s sake, I’m a country man. You can’t rear horses in Venice. They’d drown.’

But the attempt at a joke fell on stony ground. Selena’s face was as stubborn as he’d ever seen it, and he was filled with alarm.

‘I don’t believe this,’ he said. ‘I thought we’d settled that we loved each other and were going to be together for ever. Or did I miss something?’

‘No, my darling, I do love you. Oh, Leo, if you knew how much I love you. I’ll stay, but not like that.’

‘Well that’s too bad, because like that is how I am,’ he snapped.

He spoke more harshly than she ever heard him before, but his nerves were taut. His head was aching, his foot was aching, and his normal resilience was at a low ebb.

‘But it can’t be how I am,’ she said, setting her chin.

And suddenly the chasm was there again, as though they had never been reunited.

They papered over the cracks to drive to Venice for the wedding. There they smiled and played their roles perfectly. The palace had only just got back to normal after Guido’s trade show, before it was snowed under with guests for the wedding.

Selena was glad to vanish into the crowd. She and Leo had agreed not to alert the family to their differences, and there were a few of the usual hints about setting the date. But they could cope with these more easily than the truth.

And she knew that Leo was hoping that if nothing was said, her resolution would simply wear out.

In the great basilica of St Mark’s she watched the bride arrive, and knew that Harriet was at home in these grand surroundings. There was a magnificence about her as she gave her hand to the man she loved, and he looked at her out of eyes full of emotion. Their happiness seemed to fill the church and reach out to touch everyone there.

Selena turned and met Leo’s eyes. She was sure she saw reproach in them, as though he was accusing her of denying him the same happiness. She looked away. Why couldn’t he understand that she was doing what was best for both of them?

At the reception she drank champagne, toasted the bride and groom and cheered them when they left on honeymoon. As the evening wore on she looked around for Leo, but he’d vanished into the count’s study with some of the other men. And he stayed there until she’d gone to bed.

Next day he was subdued during the farewells, and on the journey home he dozed while she drove. They left late and it was dark when they reached home. Selena had told Gina to go to bed, and they found supper waiting for them.

As they uncovered the dishes she said, ‘You told them, didn’t you?’

‘I didn’t need to. They could tell. They kept asking me about our wedding, and you can only put people off just so often before they guess the truth.’

‘So now they know. Perhaps it’s best.’

‘Selena, didn’t anything that happened back there mean anything to you? Didn’t you see Marco and Harriet, the way they committed themselves to each other? That’s why marriage is important. Without it there’s no commitment. I thought we were committed, but now you’re telling me that you’re not. What kind of a future can we have?’

‘We’ll make our future in our own way-’

‘In your way, you mean? I love you, I want you for my wife.’

‘It’s impossible,’ she said despairingly.

‘It’s only impossible if you make it so.’ He took a deep breath. ‘What’s impossible to me is to go on like this.’

‘What are you saying?’

‘I’m saying that I love you, and I’m proud of you. I want to walk out of church with you on my arm and tell the world this is the woman I’ve chosen, and she’s chosen me. I hope you wanted the same, but if you don’t-’

‘Go on.’

He said, as though the words were torn out of him, ‘If you don’t, then we have nothing. You may as well go home again.’

‘Are you throwing me out, Leo?’

Suddenly he slammed his hand on the table, and in this sweet-tempered man the gesture was more shocking than it would have been in anyone else.

‘No, dammit!’ he roared. ‘I want you to stay here. I want you to love me, and marry me and have my children. I