The Italian’s Rightful Bride by Lucy Gordon Page B

how much I’m paying for your services and I can find it because it’s a good investment. But if you could manage to discover a solid gold vase, preferably two thousand years old, plus some proof that it once belonged to Julius Caesar, who received it from Cleopatra, I’d be very grateful.’
    He spoke in a satirical voice and she guessed she didn’t have to explain to him what a wild hope this was.
    A moment later he confirmed it, saying, ‘It’s all right, it’s only wishful thinking making me talk nonsense.’
    â€˜Not nonsense. Miracles do happen.’
    â€˜I know,’ he said, so softly that she almost didn’t hear.
    â€˜What was that?’
    â€˜Nothing,’ he said hastily. ‘Tell me, what’s that I see over there? It looks like a whole village.’
    â€˜We travel with everything we need. One of those tents is a makeshift canteen.’
    â€˜And those trucks behind the tents?’
    â€˜Equipment, including a portable generator, that works the fridge in the canteen, so we can all have a nice cold beer. Independence is everything when you work all over the place, as we do.’
    â€˜That’s another thing I recall about you, your independence. Be self-sufficient, and owe nothing to any man. That was your motto.’
    â€˜I’m sure I never said that.’
    â€˜You never had to. You were only eighteen, but even then, there was something about you that was complete unto yourself.’
    â€˜Then you were probably lucky not to marry me,’ she said lightly. ‘Self-sufficient people can be hell on earth to live with. They often know how to give but not to take, and that can be just as hurtful.’
    â€˜Well, it might make a change from someone who only knew how to take and never gave anything in her life,’ he said with a touch of irony.
    The next moment he hurriedly backed off.
    â€˜Please forget I said that. I make good resolutions not to criticise Crystal. It’s sometimes hard to keep them, but she’s still the mother of my child.’
    â€˜Of course. And as for what you were saying, I’m not sure you were right about me.’
    â€˜Well, I always wondered just how real your armour was. It was as though you’d told yourself to be that way, although I can’t think why. Maybe you felt safer.’
    She was about to protest when she remembered her vow never to love or feel again with the intensity with which she’d loved Gustavo. She’d opted for self-sufficiency then, but had the seeds of it already been there inside her heart long before? And had he sensed them, and drawn back from her?
    She’d never thought of Gustavo as having insight. If anything, the reverse. Now, as he revealed her to herself, she wondered how well she’d ever really known him.
    â€˜Look,’ he said suddenly, pointing upward.
    The grey faded and a glow was appearing in the sky as the sun prepared to rise. Yet it was still early enough for a cool breeze.
    â€˜I always thought this the perfect time of day,’ he said softly.
    â€˜Yes.’
    He was standing a little behind her and she felt him put his hands gently on her shoulders. After that neither of them moved as they stood watching the light grow, until the sun blazed from behind a cloud and they had to shield their eyes.
    â€˜I suppose we’d better go back,’ he said reluctantly.
    On the journey home Joanna did not speak. Her inner vision was full of the glory she had seen, and the greater glory she had felt.
    She was trying not to hear the little warning voice that had spoken before. It was more urgent now.
    Go away from here, quickly. Leave before it’s too late.
    But it was already too late.
    Â 
    Business matters, both estate and financial, claimed Gustavo over the next few days. Several times he drove into Rome, always choosing a route that took him pastthe dig, fascinated by the way the area had become