“Are you comfortable?” she asked the elderly lady. “Can I get you anything? There is a nurse coming to look after you later on. It’s all been organized by the children’s father.”
Once again, the old lady’s eyes were as black and bright as beads.
“Sto bene,” she said. “I am fine.”
“I see you haven’t finished your tea. Would you like the rest of it?”
Cassie knew it would be cool by now, but perhaps it was easier for Nonna to drink it at room temperature, when she wouldn’t risk burning her mouth.
She propped her up on the pillows and handed her the cup.
Carefully, with trembling hands, Nonna sipped.
“I had a strange dream earlier on,” Nonna said, in a low voice, as if she was confiding a secret to Cassie.
“Really?” Cassie felt fear lance through her. “What was that?”
“It was something to do with my daughter, but I have forgotten it now. I wish I could remember it as I think it was molto importante.”
The old lady pursed her lips thoughtfully.
Cassie stared at her in alarm. Had Nonna been pretending to be confused when the detective had interviewed her earlier? Or had she genuinely experienced a recurrence of her dementia?
“Have another sip of tea,” Cassie said, hoping that if she could keep her voice level and her words calm, Nonna would not be able to feed off her fear. Inwardly, she was screaming. This woman had been an eyewitness to an incident that could ruin Cassie’s life and send her to prison for a prolonged period. Now, she seemed to be taunting Cassie with the fact that she could remember this important information at any time.
Or was this confusion genuinely part of the dementia?
Cassie had no idea, but she felt a terrible uncertainty. She was going to have to live with the knowledge that Nonna knew more than she was telling. She only had the police detective’s word that Nonna would not make a reliable witness, but what if there were other ways of obtaining the proof from her that did not require cross-examination?
She knew the fear of discovery would hang over her forever.
CHAPTER THIRTY SIX
“I have had enough now,” Nonna said after drinking the tea.
“Let me take the cup.” Cassie replaced it on the tray. “Do you want to get up and sit with the children? Or would you like to rest now?”
To her relief, the old lady said, “I will rest.”
Cassie arranged her pillows, feeling her heart jump every time Nonna took one of her harsh, shallow breaths, in case she was getting ready to voice more of those terrible accusations. She was glad when she was able to leave the room and close the door.
She found Nina and Venetia in the kitchen.
“What would you like to do today?” she asked them.
“I would like to visit the park,” Nina said. “I love playing on the swings. It is a long time since we have been there, as Mama has not let us go for walks since Papa left.”
“I want to see my horse. We have missed so many of our rides, Cassie. We are supposed to have lessons twice a week. Then it started to be Sundays only and then they kept getting canceled because we were naughty,” Venetia said.
Cassie nodded, feeling overwhelmed all over again by the girls’ acceptance of the fact their mother was gone. She had expected at some stage that they might feel tearful or sad, but instead, it seemed as if an enormous weight had been removed from their lives and hearts. She guessed that the worsening abuse had done more than destroy their love for Ms. Rossi, it had also annihilated the bond they had with their mother.
After they had decided on the day’s activities, the girls raced upstairs to change into their riding clothes. The small thunder of their feet across the tiles and their excited yells to each other about what color top they should wear brought a warmth and homeliness into the grand house that Cassie now saw had been completely lacking when she arrived.
She wondered if Nonna could hear their voices from inside her cozy room. If so, Cassie was sure she disapproved, believing that children should be seen and not heard. Under her regime and her daughter’s, this joyful exuberance would be perceived as rowdy behavior that needed to be punished.
Dressed in their riding clothes, Nina and Venetia ran downstairs and piled into Cassie’s car. She felt as if they were all setting out on an adventure.
The drive into verdant, hilly countryside south of the city was incredibly beautiful, and the riding center itself was exquisite. A short walk down a tree-lined lane, with a view of white-fenced pastures and arenas, led to the yard where large stalls were set in a horseshoe shape around an immaculately trimmed lawn.
The yard manager was a tall, capable-looking woman who greeted them with a friendly smile. To Cassie’s relief, she spoke English.
“Nina and Venetia, how good to see you. You have not been to see your horses for ages. I am sure they have missed you. Would you like to fetch them from the field? I will ask one of the assistants to go with you.”
She shouted rapid instructions in Italian, and a dark-haired young man ran over to them.
“Come along, girls, let’s fetch and groom your horses.”
Once this had been organized, she turned to Cassie.
“I am Roberta,” she introduced herself.
“I’m Cassie, the children’s au pair.”
“Has everything been all right with them?” Roberta asked, lowering her voice. “They have not been riding for a very long time. I have not seen them here since their parents were divorced, and that must have been four or five months ago.”
Cassie felt heartbroken that the girls had missed out on so much fun, while being forced to lie that they had fallen from their horses to explain away their injuries and bruises.
“Things have been difficult at home recently,” she said. “Unfortunately their mother died in a
