Wife in the Shadows

by Sara Craven

  The concealer that Consolata had left for her did its work again, and her freshly washed hair shone as it curved gently round her face, so, in spite of her inner confusion and anxiety, she looked relatively composed when she went down to the salotto.

  Giovanni was waiting in the hallway to open the door for her, and she paused, drawing a deep breath, feeling as if she was about to walk onstage without knowing what play she was in, let alone any of the lines she was supposed to say. But the major domo’s discreet smile and nod of approval helped launch her into the room, even if the sudden hush that met her appearance was disconcerting enough to induce a wave of shyness to sweep over her.

  For a moment, she wondered if she was late, but one swift glance told her that she was not the last arrival. That neither Ernesto nor her cousin were yet present. No doubt Silvia was waiting as usual to make a last minute entrance in something by Versace that would knock everyone sideways.

  I just wish I could do the same to her, she thought grimly.

  ‘My dear.’ Prince Damiano walked towards her. ‘How charming you look.’ He turned to Angelo who had accompanied him. ‘You are a lucky man, Count.’

  ‘I am well aware of exactly how fortunate I am,’ Angelo returned silkily. His lips were smiling, but there was no accompanying warmth in the dark eyes as he took Ellie’s unresisting hand and kissed it lightly. ‘Mia bella, Nonna Cosima is anxious to be better acquainted with her future grand-daughter. May I take you to her?’

  His choice of words made her heart miss a beat. ‘Yes,’ she said huskily, recovering herself. ‘Yes, of course.’

  The Contessa was seated on a sofa, chatting to Signora Ciprianto, who rose to make a tactful retreat at Ellie’s approach.

  ‘I have brought you my treasure, Nonna,’ Angelo said lightly. ‘I am sure you will be as delighted with her as if you had chosen her yourself.’ He paused as the Contessa bit her lip and changed colour slightly, then turned, smiling, to Ellie. ‘May I get you something to drink, mia cara?’

  There was something going on here, Ellie decided. Something she didn’t know about, and probably wouldn’t like.

  Sudden anger shook her, and with it a desire to be perverse. She met Angelo’s gaze limpidly. ‘Oh, just the usual, please.’ And being rewarded with a swift flash of annoyance in his eyes, she added, ‘Darling,’ as he turned to walk away.

  The Contessa leaned forward and took her hand. ‘Elena—I may call you that, I hope, and you must say Nonna Cosima. We have met in difficult circumstances, but we must now put them behind us and look instead to the future, and to happiness. Do you agree?’

  Ellie was taken aback. The Contessa was speaking as if there’d been a slight glitch, now sorted out to everyone’s satisfaction, when she knew—she must know—that the contrary was the case.

  She said quietly, but with emphasis, ‘The whole thing can’t be forgotten too quickly as far as I’m concerned. And please believe that is something I absolutely look forward to.’ She added stiltedly, ‘I hope that’s the reassurance you want.’

  There was a glint in the dark eyes that struck Ellie as far too reminiscent of the lady’s grandson. ‘Not precisely,’ said the Contessa. ‘But it will serve for now.’

  And then she began, with great charm, to ask questions. If Ellie had ever thought it was only the Spanish who had an inquisition, five minutes with Angelo’s grandmother would have convinced her that the Italians weren’t far behind.

  She found herself speaking with total candour about her parents, her friends, her work at the publishing company, revealing, she realised, probably more than she wished. And, finally, she told the Contessa about her apartment.

  When she mentioned she lived there alone, the Contessa’s delicate brows rose. ‘Then the sooner you accept the invitation to move to the Palazzo Damiano the better, dear child.’

  Ellie sat up very straight. ‘I see no need for that. Besides I love my apartment. It’s my home.’

  ‘But not for much longer. After all, you are going to be married, and you will share your husband’s home.’

  Ellie’s hands clenched together in her lap. ‘And—when I get married, I will do so.’ Or if … ‘But until then, I’ll stay where I am.’

  ‘Yet surely you must see that is impossible.’ The Contessa sounded almost coaxing. ‘Angelo could not be permitted to visit you there.’ She gave a resolute nod. ‘From now on, there must not be as much as another whisper of scandal about your relationship with my grandson.’

  And as Ellie’s lips parted to tell her without mincing her words that visits from Count Manzini did not feature on her personal agenda, and that there was no relationship with him—neither past, present nor future—she heard Angelo’s voice saying coolly, ‘Your drink, Elena mia. Campari with a splash of soda.’ Adding softly, ‘Just as you like it, carissima.’

  Of course, Ellie thought, almost grinding her teeth. He’d have asked Madrina. As I should have known.

  Accepting the glass from him, with a murmured, ‘Grazie,’ she wished very much she could throw the drink at him, drenching the open mockery in the dark face and staining, perhaps irrevocably, his immaculate dress shirt as well. Before, that is, she left the room, screaming.

  As it was, she took immediate refuge behind a wall of reserve, returning only monosyllabic replies to any remarks made to her, and thankful to her heart when the Prince, his wife and the rest of the party came to join them, and conversation became general.

  It was when Giovanni announced respectfully that dinner was served that she realised that the group was not complete.

  She said in an undertone to the Principessa, ‘But, Madrina, Silvia and Ernesto haven’t come down yet.’

  ‘They are not here, mia cara.’ Her godmother conveyed the news almost casually. ‘Silvia felt that she was developing a migraine—so painful, so debilitating—therefore Ernesto took her back to Rome. Such a good and caring husband.

  ‘But do not concern yourself about your own return,’ she added brightly. ‘Cesare has already said that you will travel with us. At the same time, arrangements can be made to bring your things from your appartamento. Which makes everything so very convenient, don’t you agree?’

  No, Ellie didn’t agree, but she knew, through experience, that there was no point in saying so. Not once Prince Damiano had spoken. And since when had Silvia suffered from anything like a migraine?

  It’s like trying to find your way out of a maze, she thought bitterly as she made her way to the dining room. Every way you turn, you come up against a blank wall.

  But later, when she looked up and found Angelo watching her across the silver and crystal of the polished dining table, his dark gaze frankly speculative, it occurred to her that blank walls might be the very least of her troubles.

  As an object lesson in discovering how the other half live, Ellie soon realised, residence at the Palazzo Damiano could hardly be bettered.

  She walked on marble floors from one massive, high-ceilinged room to another. She slept on the finest linen sheets, and her delicious food was served on delicate porcelain.

  Her little flat would have fitted easily into the bedroom she’d been given alone, quite apart from the small but comfortable sitting room which led to it, and the luxurious bathroom which adjoined it.

  And her second-hand Fiat screamed ‘poor relation’ when parked beside the Prince’s limousine and her godmother’s elegant Alfa Romeo on the gravelled sweep in front of the palazzo.

  But when all this nonsense is over, she told herself staunchly, unlike so much else, it will be still around and still reliable.

  And so, she hoped, would her job, even though her engagement had proved to be a nine day wonder at the office, to her acute embarrassment, while the sidelong looks from certain people had confirmed beyond doubt that rumours of Silvia’s affair with Angelo Manzini had indeed reached the public domain.

  In addition, one of the directors had called her in and asked outright at what point prior to her marriage did sh
e plan to resign. Totally taken aback, she had flushed and stammered that she loved her work, and had no intention of abandoning it, and been answered by sceptically raised eyebrows, and the comment that her fidanzato might have very different ideas.

  If I have to go on biting my lip each time he’s mentioned, she thought savagely, I shall soon have no mouth left.

  Even more galling was having to endure his actual physical presence at the palazzo, where he’d become a regular visitor, dining with them several times a week. And telling herself that his visits were only part of the pretence and that it was Prince

  Damiano whom he really came to see made the situation no easier to bear.

  He sent her flowers, too. Her sitting room was full of them.

  And he kissed her. Mainly on the hand and the cheek admittedly, but sometimes on the lips—invariably when it was impossible for her to take evasive action.

  Ellie supposed that nine out of ten women would have asked why on earth she would wish to avoid being kissed by one of the most attractive men in Italy, and found it difficult to explain, even to herself.

  After all, she couldn’t say that it was because she knew his kisses were prompted by duty rather than desire, when the last thing she wanted was for Angelo Manzini to desire her. Those brief moments in bed in his arms when she’d suddenly turned into a complete stranger had taught her that. And the memory of them still had the power to dry her mouth and make her tremble in a way that was totally outside her experience.

  Which was where, she thought resolutely, she wished it to remain.

  I must be one of nature’s spinsters, she told herself, and derived no great comfort from this prosaic reflection.

  She had not bargained either for being introduced to his relations. His Aunt Dorotea had been one of their earliest callers, a formidable matron who had given Ellie a searching look from head to toe then given an abrupt nod as if expressing satisfaction. Though what all that was about defeated Ellie entirely.

  On a more positive note, Signora Luccino had brought her daughter Tullia with her, a girl with a sweet, merry face, married to a lawyer the previous year, and Ellie thought with regret that, under different circumstances, they might have been friends.

  The Contessa Cosima, too, was a frequent visitor, alarming Ellie with a gentle flow of chat about churches and wedding dresses. That, she thought, was carrying pretence too far, and wished she had the nerve to say so.

  In fact clothing had become an issue altogether. Her wardrobe might be basic, she thought defensively, but it was perfectly adequate—a view that her godmother clearly did not share. The large guardaroba in her room was beginning to fill up with skirts, pants and tops in linen and silk, and a growing selection of evening wear in clear jewel colours and floating fabrics. And each outfit seemed to have its own shoes and bag in softest leather.

  As if, she thought, scowling, it was not the done thing for Count Manzini to see her wearing the same thing twice.

  She had tried to protest more than once that she was not a clothes horse, but the Principessa had waved these contentions away, smiling. It was her pleasure to see her dear Elena looking so lovely—and so happy too, she added brightly as Ellie’s jaw dropped.

  But there was no visit from Silvia. At first Ellie had thought that her cousin was quite understandably steering clear of her, only to be told by the Principessa that Ernesto, presumably in his role as good and caring husband, had taken Silvia for a little vacation on Corfu where his family had a house.

  The days at the palazzo became weeks, and as they approached a month Ellie wondered how much longer the negotiations between Galantana and Credito Europa could possibly drag on, and when the deal would finally be done.

  Because until that happened, she couldn’t calculate how soon she’d be able to escape from this gilded cage, no matter how luxurious and loving it might be, and begin to reclaim her own life again.

  More than anything, as the city heat increased, she missed the Casa Bianca and the breezes that blew from the sea, but her suggestion that she should spend some of her weekends there had been kindly but firmly declined. While her supposed engagement endured, it seemed she was going nowhere.

  Surely it can’t last much longer, she told herself each night with increasing desperation as she lay in bed staring up at the painted ceiling where gods and goddesses cavorted with unfeeling cheerfulness at some woodland banquet.

  Worst of all, she’d noticed that one of the gods—probably

  Mars—was black haired and dark eyed, his lean muscular body hardly concealed by the lion-skin thrown across one shoulder, and bearing a disturbing resemblance to Angelo Manzini. Or was that simply her over-active imagination?

  Whatever, it wasn’t an image she wished to find invading her bedroom all over again, but found to her acute annoyance that it still lingered in her mind, even when she turned over and buried her face in the pillow. Rendering her still more tongue-tied when she encountered the Count in the flesh, as it were, although he was always elegantly covered in some designer suit or other.

  Another potent suggestion that the quicker she got out of there and back to sanity, the better it would be for her.

  And each night she breathed the silent prayer. ‘Oh please—please—let it be soon.’

  Angelo stepped out into the heat of the Roman morning, as the automatic glass doors of the Credito Europa Bank whispered shut behind him. His face was calm as he walked to his car, taking his seat in the back with a murmured acknowledgement to the driver holding the door open for him, but this outward appearance was deceptive.

  Because, underneath, he was blazingly, wickedly angry.

  ‘Does Your Excellency wish to return to the office?’ Mario asked with faint bewilderment as the silence lengthened.

  Angelo pulled his thoughts away from the meeting he’d just attended, and met the chauffeur’s enquiring gaze in the driving mirror. He said curtly, ‘No, take me to my apartment.’

  If Mario found this a strange request in the middle of a working day, it was not his place to argue. He dropped his employer at the main entrance, was told he would not be required again, then watched with a puzzled frown as Angelo strode inside.

  The apartment was cool and silent, Salvatore as usual doing his marketing at that time of day. Which was good because Angelo wanted to be alone.

  He walked into the salotto, impatiently stripping off his jacket and tie, and tossing them over a chair. He unbuttoned his waistcoat, tore open the neck of his shirt, then poured himself a large Scotch, swallowed it, and poured another, even larger. He’d come home with the intention of getting blind, roaring drunk and wasting no time about it.

  The news—no, the ultimatum—that he’d just received at the bank called for nothing less.

  He could still hardly believe it. He thought he’d dealt with the trap that had been set for him at Largossa. Believed that simply going through the motions of courting the girl who’d been used in the snare—this Elena, Silvia’s cousin and so much unlike his former mistress that she might have come from a different planet—would be enough to get him what he wanted, and he could then walk away. And that she would be equally grateful to see the back of him.

  Dio mio, he thought. He’d almost felt sorry for her, recognising the reluctance of her co-operation. But no longer.

  He walked to the sofa, flinging himself back against the cushions, taking another mouthful of Scotch, eyes narrowed, mouth compressed as he stared into space.

  Now, too late, he recalled someone telling him when he was younger that Cesare Damiano had been nicknamed the Crocodile in banking circles.

  Today the Prince had more than lived up to his name.

  ‘My wife cares deeply for her god-daughter, Count, and is naturally concerned for the immense harm to her reputation if there were—consequences resulting from your liaison with her.’

  He had sat on the other side of his polished desk, hands together, fingertips forming a kind of steeple, his expression grave as he
studied the younger man. ‘I am sure you understand me.’

  And I, thought Angelo bitterly, fool that I am, I never saw it coming. Never understood that another trap had been set and was waiting for me. And while, if I’d used an atom of commonsense, I might have avoided the first, there is nothing I can do about the second.

  Holy Madonna, I couldn’t tell him there’d be no consequences as I’d simply been tricked into the wrong bed, or I’d have found myself lying on the pavement outside, thrown there by his security staff. And the consequences of that would be truly horrendous.

  Therefore if I want his money, I have to bite on the bullet by accepting the eternally damned terms he spelled out to me with such care, and somehow persuade the little Signorina Milk and Water to become my wife. With the assurance that, once the knot is tied, the finance will become immediately available.

  He punched the arm of the sofa with his clenched fist.

  Dear God, what a prospect, he thought despairingly. To have to marry a girl who looks at me as if she’d come across a snake sleeping in the sunshine. Who shrinks from my lightest touch and answers me in monosyllables from surely the coldest mouth in Rome.

  But I know quite well it’s not the Prince pulling the strings. That I have his charming wife, plus my own grandmother, and, of course, Zia Dorotea to thank for this current horror. All they needed was the opportunity I was stupid enough to give them, and my fate was sealed.

  I must have been insane to think that an engagement would be enough to satisfy them, he told himself. And perhaps I should have asked myself too if their chosen candidate for the post of my wife was really only the scapegoat she appeared to be.

  And, for a brooding moment, found himself remembering a slim body warm against his and soft lips that had briefly trembled beneath his kiss. Very briefly, he thought, because the next moment, she had scratched him like a tigress.

  Restively, he finished the whisky in his glass and set it aside. Well if there was no other way to secure the promised loan, and they all wished to transform Elena Blake into the Contessa Manzini, he would oblige them.