The Wedding Arrangement

Having urged her towards the stairs, he got in front of her.

‘Just in case you fall,’ he said. ‘It’s a long drop.’

‘Hey, I won’t fall apart because of a little headache,’ she protested. ‘I’m as tough as old boots.’

‘Sure, I can see that by looking at you.’

As they went down, the noise faded behind them and she felt as though she were being engulfed by peace and quiet. It was a strange sensation to enjoy with Luke, but pleasant.

Coming out of the arch into the street, she took deep lungfuls of air, turning her face up to the sky with an expression of ecstasy.

‘I suppose I look crazy,’ she said when she opened her eyes to find him watching her.

‘No, you look like someone who should do that more often. Feel better now?’

‘Yes, it’s a bit stuffy in that courtyard.’

They began to stroll through streets where trattorias were still open, their lights gleaming on the cobblestones. Luke saw an all-night pharmacy on the corner and slipped in for a moment.

‘Just something for your head,’ he told her, emerging, ‘in case you find you’re not as tough as you think.’

‘Sometimes I’m not,’ she agreed. ‘Sometimes I just want to lie down and go to sleep.’

‘You missed a trick there,’ he said. ‘Never admit a weakness to the other side. I shall pounce on it and use it to undermine you.’

She gave a rueful laugh. ‘Will you?’

‘Well, maybe not this time.’

‘Besides, I already know your weakness.’

‘I don’t have one,’ he said at once.

‘You’re a man who suffers badly if he doesn’t get enough sleep. Look at the way you were after Netta’s party. One night without sleep and you collapsed into a crumpled heap. You’ll never take over the world like that.’

‘I guess I won’t. Dammit! What a pity you noticed.’

‘Never mind. I won’t tell anyone. I’ll just “pounce on it and use it to undermine you”.’

With every step Minnie felt she was walking deeper into calm content. The battle was far away. She would fight him tomorrow.

He steered her into a cafe where they could sit at a table on the pavement. The owner evidently recognised Minnie, for he held up a tall glass, raising his eyebrows in a question.

‘What’s that?’ Luke asked.

‘They do a delicious dish of strawberries, cream and ice cream. I used to eat it a lot before I moved to the Via Veneto and became pompous.’

He ordered coffee for them both and a sundae for her.

‘Take this for your head,’ he said, offering her what he’d bought in the pharmacy.

‘Thanks. I’ll leave it for a moment. It may not get bad enough for me.’

He watched with pleasure as she tucked into her sundae, thinking that it was like watching a child let out of school.

‘They all lean on you, don’t they?’ he said suddenly.

‘What?’

‘The night we met, you came out to defend Charlie, and he’s not the only one, is he? Rico let out a few interesting things while we were in the police station. You’re in and out of that place, hauling them out of the consequences of their own mistakes. Shoplifting, low level smuggling, selling hot goods in the market-’

‘It’s all minor stuff. They’re family.’

‘They not your family. They’ve just latched on to you and loaded you with all their problems.’

‘Why shouldn’t they? I’m the strong one. I like it.’

‘OK, you like it, but even the strong one needs a rest some times. Does anyone ever think of you?’

‘Yes, Netta. She’s been better than my own mother.’

But, even as she said it, she knew what he meant. On the surface Netta was the matriarch of the family, but in fact it was herself, and it was a lonely position.

She tried to remember the last time she’d walked through the streets of Trastevere like this, and she couldn’t. It passed across her mind that under other circumstances Luke would have made an ideal friend.

Suddenly she realised that they were being watched. A young boy was standing on the edge of the circle of light, trying to attract their attention.

Luke noticed him and smiled. ‘Hey there!’

As the boy came forward Minnie saw that he was holding a puppy.

‘Is that-?’

‘That’s my friend,’ Luke said. ‘And his friend. So they’re OK. Good.’

‘I’m glad to see you well, signore,’ the boy said with formal politeness. ‘I wanted to thank you for helping us the other night.’

‘That’s all right,’ Luke assured him. ‘It all ended happily.’

‘But you were arrested-I know they must have fined you-and I have some pocket money-’

‘There’s no need for that,’ Luke said. ‘It’s all sorted, and nothing for you to worry about.’

‘You are sure?’

‘Completely sure,’ he said gently. ‘But perhaps you shouldn’t stay out so late another time.’

Right on cue a window opened somewhere above them and a woman’s voice screeched, ‘Giacomo, come home at once.’

‘Yes, Mamma,’ he called back in a resigned voice. He thrust the puppy towards Luke. ‘He, too, would like to thank you.’

Luke rubbed the animal’s head. There was another screech, and Giacomo hurried away.

‘Why are you looking at me like that?’ Luke asked.

‘I guess I really did misjudge you. If there’s one man in the world I wouldn’t have thought-’

She was confused, less by discovering that there really had been a puppy, but by the kind way he’d spoken to the boy.

‘It comes from having younger brothers,’ he said, picking up her thought.

‘Are you a mind-reader?’ she asked in wonder.

‘Well, it’s easy with you, since I know where you’re coming from. I’m the devil and all his works, and anything that doesn’t fit that pattern takes you by surprise.’

She began to laugh and choked slightly, waving a hand before her face as if to fend him off while she got over it. He took hold of her hand and held it until she’d finished coughing.

‘I suppose there’ll come a day when we’re not on opposing sides,’ he mused. ‘When that happens, there are things I’d like to discuss with you.’

It was hard to know how to answer him since his eyes were on her hand, not her face. But he didn’t seem to expect an answer and, after holding her fingers between his for a moment, laid his cheek briefly against them and let them go. When she looked up he’d gone inside to pay the bill.

They walked on slowly. The moon was rising, making lovers draw back into the shadows, as she and Gianni had once done, she remembered. But there was no ache tonight, only a sense of peace that was almost happiness.

Even a group of lads kicking a football about down a side street couldn’t disturb her. When the ball accidentally came flying in her direction she kicked it back with a neat movement that made Luke look at her with new respect.

‘I can do more than stand up in a courtroom, you know,’ she said, and they laughed together.

At last they came full circle to the Residenza and he saw her to her door.

‘Have those pills before you go to bed,’ he said.

But she shook her head.

‘I don’t need them now. I haven’t had a headache for-I don’t know. It slipped away without my noticing.’

‘I’ll say goodnight then.’ He held her hand for a moment before turning away.

Back in his own home, he called Hope at the villa. When they’d discussed inconsequential things for a few minutes he said, ‘I expect you see a lot of Olympia?’