'Thank you, my dear,' Stone said.
'So,' Mary Ann said, changing the subject, 'what's the plan for Venice?'
'We'll go directly from the airport to Papa's house,' Dolce said. 'We'll have dinner with him tonight; tomorrow, Saturday, the civil ceremony will be held at the town hall, where we'll be married by the mayor of Venice. Then, on Monday morning, a friend of Papa's from the Vatican, a cardinal, will marry us at St. Mark's, on the square of the same name. After that, Stone and I will go on a honeymoon, the itinerary of which I've kept secret even from him, and the rest of you can go to hell.'
'Sounds good,' Mary Ann said.
'Who's the cardinal?' Dino asked.
'Bellini,' Dolce replied.
'Doesn't he run the Vatican bank?'
'Yes, he does.'
'How like Eduardo,' Dino said, 'to have his daughter married by a priest, a prince of the Church, and an international banker, all wrapped up in one.'
'Why two ceremonies?' Stone asked.
Mary Ann spoke up. 'To nail you, coming and going,' she said, laughing, 'so you can never be free of her. The two marriages are codependent; the civil ceremony won't be official until the religious ceremony has taken place, and the priest-pardon me, the cardinal- has signed the marriage certificate.'
'It's the Italian equivalent of a royal wedding,' Dino said. 'It's done these days only for the
'Eat your eggs, Dino,' Mary Ann sighed.
Chapter 3
The gleaming mahogany motor launch, the Venetian equivalent of a limousine, glided up the Grand Canal in the bright, spring sunshine. Stone looked about him, trying to keep his mouth from dropping open. It was his first visit to the city. The four of them sat in a leather banquette at the stern of the boat, keeping quiet. Nothing they could say could burnish the glories of Venice.
The boat slowed and turned into a smaller canal, and shortly, came to a stop before a flight of stone steps, worn from centuries of footsteps. Two men dressed as gondoliers held the craft still with long boat hooks and helped the women ashore. As they reached the stone jetty, a pair of double doors ahead of them swung open, as if by magic, and Eduardo Bianchi came toward them, his arms outstretched, a smile on his handsome face. He embraced his daughters, shook hands fairly warmly with his son-in-law, then turned to Stone and placed both hands on his shoulders. 'And my new son,' he said, embracing him.
'Very nearly,' Stone said. 'It's good to see you, Eduardo, and it's very kind of you to arrange all this for us. Dolce and I are very grateful.'
'Come into the house,' Eduardo said, walking them toward the open doors. 'You must be exhausted after your flight.'
'Not really; it's hard to know how we could have been made more comfortable in the air,' Stone said. 'Once again, our gratitude.'
Eduardo shrugged. 'A friend insisted,' he said. 'Your luggage will be taken to your rooms. Would you like to freshen up, girls?'
The girls, dismissed, followed a maid down a hallway.
'Come into the garden,' Eduardo said. 'We will have lunch in a little while, but in the meantime, would you like some refreshment?*
'Perhaps some iced tea,' Stone said. Dino remained silent. Eduardo ushered them through French doors into a large, enclosed courtyard, which had been beautifully planted, and showed them to comfortable chairs. Unbidden, a servant appeared with pitchers of iced drinks, and they were served.
'First of all, I must clear the air,' Eduardo said. 'I quite understand that you may be very attached to your own house; I would not impose mine on you.'
Stone was once again astonished at Eduardo's apparently extrasensory intuition. 'Thank you, Eduardo. It was a magnificent offer, but you are quite right-I am very attached to my own house. It is much caught up with my family's history in New York. Fortunately, Dolce has consented to live there.'
'She is a smart girl,' Eduardo said, smiling slightly. 'I would have been disappointed in her, if she had begun her marriage by attempting to move her husband from a home he loves.'
'I expect she will find my taste in interior decoration inadequate, and I have steeled myself for the upheaval.'
'You are smart, too,' Eduardo said. He turned to his son-in-law. 'Dino, how goes it among New York's finest?'
'Still the finest,' Dino replied.
'Are you arresting many innocent Italian-American businessmen these days?' Eduardo asked impishly.
'There aren't many left,' Dino said. 'We've already rehoused most of them upstate.'
Eduardo turned back to Stone. 'Dino disapproves of my family's former colleagues,' he said. 'But he is an honest policeman, and there are not many of those. Many of his other colleagues have also been 'rehoused upstate,' as he so gracefully puts it. Dino has my respect, even if he will not accept my affection.'
'Eduardo,' Dino said, spreading his hands, 'when I have retired, I will be yours to corrupt.'
Eduardo laughed aloud, something Stone had never heard him do. 'Dino will always be incorruptible,' Eduardo said. 'But I still have hopes of his friendship.' Eduardo glanced toward the French doors and stood up.
Stone and Dino stood with him. A tall, thin man with wavy salt-and-pepper hair was approaching. He wore a black blazer with gold buttons, grey silk trousers, and a striped shirt, open at the neck, where an ascot had been tied.
'Carmen,' Eduardo said, 'may I present my son-in-law, Dino Bacchetti.'
To Stone's astonishment, Dino bowed his head and kissed the heavy ring on the man's right hand.
'And this is my son-in-law-to-be, Stone Barrington.'
The man extended his hand, and Stone shook it. 'Your Eminence,' he said, 'how do you do?'
'Quite well, thank you, Stone.' Bellini held onto Stone's hand and stared into his face. 'He has good eyes, Eduardo,' he said to Bianchi.
Stone was surprised that the cardinal spoke with an American accent.
'My son,' Bellini said to Stone, 'it is my understanding that you are not a Roman Catholic.'
'I am a believer, Your Eminence,' Stone said, 'but not a registered one.'
Bellini laughed and waved them to their seats. He accepted a fruit juice from the servant, then reached into an inside pocket and took out a thick, white envelope sealed with red wax, and handed it to Eduardo. 'Here is the necessary dispensation,' he said. 'The Holy Father sends his greetings and his blessing.'
'Thank you, Carmen,' Eduardo said, accepting the envelope.
If Stone understood this transaction correctly, he now had papal approval to marry Dolce. He was embarrassed that the necessity had never occurred to him. 'Your Eminence, I am surprised that your accent is American. Did you attend university there?'
'Yes, and preparatory school and elementary school before that. I was born and raised in Brooklyn. Eduardo and I used to steal fruit together, before the Jesuits got hold of me.' He said something to Eduardo in what seemed to Stone flawless Italian, raising a chuckle. He turned back to Stone. 'I understand that you are engaged in the practice of law.'
'That's correct.'
'If I may torture the scriptures a little, it is probably easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a lawyer to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.'
'I tread as narrow a path as my feet will follow,' Stone replied.
Bellini smiled. 'I should hate to oppose this young man in court,' he said to Eduardo.
