The Wedding Arrangement

her own, so that she could understand their feelings, while assuring herself that she was safe from sharing them.

But she would have felt safer still if she could have danced a few inches away. The room was hotter than she’d realised, and it was getting harder to breathe.

As soon as she could she excused herself. ‘I must go and help Netta. Enjoy the party.’

He nodded and let her go. He was beginning to be very conscious that he’d spent the previous night in a police cell, wide awake.

He’d meant to catch up on his sleep at the hotel that afternoon, but he’d become involved in business phone calls and in the end there had only been time for a cold shower. Now he knew it hadn’t been enough. His eyes insisted on closing, no matter how hard he fought to keep them open.

At last, taking advantage of the crowd, he slipped out of the door and found himself by the railing that over- looked the courtyard. Too public. Where could he find a little privacy?

He discovered a small corridor that went through the building, connecting the staircase to the outer apartments that overlooked the road. It was deserted and he sank down to the ground, thankful for a place where a man could rest his head in peace.

He’d return to the party soon, but, just for a few minutes, he would close his eyes…a few minutes…a few…

CHAPTER FOUR

AFTER handing round more drinks, Minnie went into the kitchen to help Netta make coffee.

‘You looked good together,’ her mother-in-law observed.

‘Just doing my duty,’ Minnie said. ‘It was purely formal.’

‘How can you be formal with him? He is a man.’

‘So are a lot of other people here,’ Minnie observed, trying not to understand Netta’s meaning.

‘No, they are not men, like he is,’ Netta insisted. ‘Boys, feeble creatures who look like men but don’t measure up. He is a man. He can bring you back to life. Why were you so careless as to let him leave?’

‘Has he left?’

‘Can you see him anywhere? He’s slipped out with a woman, and they’ve found a quiet place to do things that-’

‘Yes, I can imagine what they’re doing.’ Minnie stopped her hastily. ‘I suppose he has every right to please himself.’

‘He should be pleasing himself with you,’ Netta said stubbornly. ‘And you should be pleasing yourself with him.’

‘Netta, I only met him today.’

‘Huh! I only knew Tomaso one day before I had his clothes off. Oh, it was glorious! Of course he was useless at everything else but I got pregnant and we had to marry.’

‘That sounds like an argument for staying a virgin.’

‘Who wants to be dried up and withered?’ Netta demanded.

Soon afterwards Minnie took the chance to slip away. Her nerves were jangling in an unfamiliar rhythm and she badly needed to calm them.

Taking up a bottle of mineral water, she went out of the front door, rejoicing in the cool night air. She took a long gulp of the water and felt better, then she began to drift down the stairs.

Perhaps Netta’s right, she thought, and I am dried up and withered. But I wasn’t always…

There had been a time when she and Gianni had seemed to exist for passion alone, a time when every night had been a scorching delight, every dawn a revelation, when life’s chief good had been the shape of Gianni’s body, the hot spicy scent of him.

But that time had ended. She’d told herself that his death had brought all desire to an end, and she was content to have it so. She was used to Netta’s attempts to talk her into a different mood, and she’d always laughed them off. Suddenly, mysteriously, she couldn’t do it any more.

Then she heard a noise from nearby. It came from one of the corridors that ran through the building, linking the inner staircase with the apartments that faced outwards.

Signor Cayman, she thought wryly, taking his pleasures.

But this didn’t sound like a man in the throes of physical delight. More like snoring.

She crept inside the corridor. There was Luke, sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall, dead to the world. She dropped to her knees and, with the aid of one weak lamp in the ceiling, made out his face, slightly to one side, relaxed for the first time.

She’d seen his mouth tensed in the hard line of a man determined to have his own way, or twisted in derision, but now it was softened into a more attractive shape, one that it was just possible to associate with pleasure. Pleasure for himself, pleasure for the woman who kissed him…

She stopped, annoyed with herself for letting her thoughts wander in this direction. A woman who’d lived almost like a nun for four years should have herself under better control by now, except that somehow control grew harder as time passed.

It’s Netta’s fault, she thought, talking about him and me like that.

She was about to walk out and leave him, but her conscience stopped her. She couldn’t let other people find him here. She gave him a gentle shake on the shoulder. It took several shakes before he opened his eyes.

‘You’ve been sleeping like a baby,’ she said, her eyes gleaming at him in the darkness.

‘Oh, Lord, did anyone notice I was gone?’ he groaned.

‘Does it matter?’

‘That place is full of young lads who can carouse all night and then start again without any sleep. At one time I could have done it, too, and I’m damned if I’ll let them suspect I can’t do it still.’

Minnie smiled and produced the bottle of mineral water, unscrewing it for him.

‘Thanks.’ He drank deeply and felt better. ‘Whatever happened to my misspent youth?’

‘You spent it,’ she said sympathetically.

‘Yes, I guess I did.’

‘I wonder how. I’ll bet you’d never seen the inside of a cell before last night.’

‘There’s no need to insult me,’ he said drowsily. ‘When I was younger I had my moments-I should be heading back to the hotel soon. I’ll say goodbye to Netta and then-’

He tried to get up and sank back. His brief doze, far from refreshing him, had started dragging him down to the depths of sleep, and there would be no escape until he’d gone all the way to the bottom and surfaced gradually.

‘You’ll never make it,’ she said. ‘I’ve got a better idea. Stay here a moment.’

He fell asleep again as soon as she left, and awoke to the feel of her shaking him by the shoulder.

‘Come on,’ she said in a tone of command.

He had a vague awareness of going down a flight of stairs and along a corridor until they stopped outside a door. She took out the key that she had been to fetch, and opened the door of an empty apartment.

‘This is between tenants at the moment,’ she said. ‘Of course you’ll find it a bit of a comedown after the Contini-’

‘If it’s got a bed, it’s fine,’ he murmured.

‘It’s got a bed, but it’s not made up.’

She reached into a cupboard to find a pillow that she tossed onto the bed, followed by some blankets.

‘Hey, steady there,’ she said, catching him swaying. ‘Now lie down.’