dressing-table in Carol's room an assortment of Italian flowered pots and bowls reflected in a mirror huge as a Roman shield.
Teri was entranced by the half-moon of steps that led up to Carol's huge bed, and amused himself hopping up and down them, and tracing with his sticky fingers the carvings on the bedposts. 'Snakes and acorns,' he murmured, 'toolips and toadstools.'
Gena grinned at Carol and leaned back in the cane-seated rocking chair with a cheroot in her hand. 'Mustn't it be great to be a carefree child? We don't realize the perfection of it until we're too old to start again. Would you like to start all over and have things less complicated for you?'
'Who wouldn't?' Carol pressed a table napkin to her lips and felt very much refreshed by a delicious cup of coffee and several sandwiches of tender and tasty ham. 'I expect for most people there's a point in their lives when they wish they could turn back the pages and start anew, aware of their mistakes and prepared to avoid them.'
'I gather,' Gena leaned forward and lowered her voice, 'that you'd avoid my brother if you could erase the last half dozen years from your life.'
'Yes—' And then Carol glanced at Teri, who had curled up in the centre of the bed and lay there with the wooden redskin they had unpacked from his suitcase. 'But then I wouldn't have my boy — I'd have nothing.'
'That's just it, isn't it?' Gena smiled ironically. 'Each cloud has its silver lining, and I don't care if it is a cliché. I guess if we regret our mistakes and wish them wiped out, we lose out on the bits and pieces of joy we collect along the way. By the way, if my speech strikes you as being rather Americanized it's because I lived in New York for several years and sang at the Metropolitan Opera House. Only in the chorus, but it was enormous fun, and then Rudi had his - accident, and I came home to Italy to keep him company and to keep house for him.'
Directly Gena spoke of her brother's accident with that angry hint of hesitation before the word, Carol wanted to ask about it. Gena tossed ash from her cheroot and her face held a brooding expression.
'Don't get me wrong,' she said, 'I don't begrudge being here, for it wasn't as if my voice was ever good enough to land me lead singing roles — nice enough, but I can't hit those real high notes. No, I had good times and I'm quite content to live here. It's just that Rudi will never marry, and when I remember how attractive he was — my dear, he could have had any woman he fancied. He adopted Flavia, and though she's a dear child she wants to return to her convent school to become a member of their Order. Rudi will give his permission, of course, if it's what she truly wants. Dio mio, to be a nun ! It wouldn't suit me.'
Gena gave her warm chuckle and crossed her long slim legs. 'Yes, I had a great time in America. I've had lovers, Carol. Does that confession shock you?'
'I'm surely the last person to be shocked ' Carol smiled slightly and was unsurprised that a woman like Gena, with her humorous eyes and her generous mouth, should have enjoyed the company of men. It only surprised Carol that she was unmarried . . . was her loyalty to her brother too strong to allow of it?
'Because of Vince?' Gena narrowed her eyes through her cheroot smoke as she gazed at Carol. 'Because you had his child?'
'Yes—' The great lie had to be a convincing one and having committed herself to it Carol was prepared to act the part for all that Teri was worth. She didn't enjoy deceiving people, but she didn't think the baróne's reaction would be a very gentle one if he found out that she hadn't even lived with Vincenzo, let alone borne him that small handsome edition of a Falcone. She strongly suspected that she would be shown the door and told to make herself scarce, and it wouldn't worry that man if Teri screamed for her. She had the feeling that he was hardened to the pain of other people.
'Vince was ever
Teri was entranced by the half-moon of steps that led up to Carol's huge bed, and amused himself hopping up and down them, and tracing with his sticky fingers the carvings on the bedposts. 'Snakes and acorns,' he murmured, 'toolips and toadstools.'
Gena grinned at Carol and leaned back in the cane-seated rocking chair with a cheroot in her hand. 'Mustn't it be great to be a carefree child? We don't realize the perfection of it until we're too old to start again. Would you like to start all over and have things less complicated for you?'
'Who wouldn't?' Carol pressed a table napkin to her lips and felt very much refreshed by a delicious cup of coffee and several sandwiches of tender and tasty ham. 'I expect for most people there's a point in their lives when they wish they could turn back the pages and start anew, aware of their mistakes and prepared to avoid them.'
'I gather,' Gena leaned forward and lowered her voice, 'that you'd avoid my brother if you could erase the last half dozen years from your life.'
'Yes—' And then Carol glanced at Teri, who had curled up in the centre of the bed and lay there with the wooden redskin they had unpacked from his suitcase. 'But then I wouldn't have my boy — I'd have nothing.'
'That's just it, isn't it?' Gena smiled ironically. 'Each cloud has its silver lining, and I don't care if it is a cliché. I guess if we regret our mistakes and wish them wiped out, we lose out on the bits and pieces of joy we collect along the way. By the way, if my speech strikes you as being rather Americanized it's because I lived in New York for several years and sang at the Metropolitan Opera House. Only in the chorus, but it was enormous fun, and then Rudi had his - accident, and I came home to Italy to keep him company and to keep house for him.'
Directly Gena spoke of her brother's accident with that angry hint of hesitation before the word, Carol wanted to ask about it. Gena tossed ash from her cheroot and her face held a brooding expression.
'Don't get me wrong,' she said, 'I don't begrudge being here, for it wasn't as if my voice was ever good enough to land me lead singing roles — nice enough, but I can't hit those real high notes. No, I had good times and I'm quite content to live here. It's just that Rudi will never marry, and when I remember how attractive he was — my dear, he could have had any woman he fancied. He adopted Flavia, and though she's a dear child she wants to return to her convent school to become a member of their Order. Rudi will give his permission, of course, if it's what she truly wants. Dio mio, to be a nun ! It wouldn't suit me.'
Gena gave her warm chuckle and crossed her long slim legs. 'Yes, I had a great time in America. I've had lovers, Carol. Does that confession shock you?'
'I'm surely the last person to be shocked ' Carol smiled slightly and was unsurprised that a woman like Gena, with her humorous eyes and her generous mouth, should have enjoyed the company of men. It only surprised Carol that she was unmarried . . . was her loyalty to her brother too strong to allow of it?
'Because of Vince?' Gena narrowed her eyes through her cheroot smoke as she gazed at Carol. 'Because you had his child?'
'Yes—' The great lie had to be a convincing one and having committed herself to it Carol was prepared to act the part for all that Teri was worth. She didn't enjoy deceiving people, but she didn't think the baróne's reaction would be a very gentle one if he found out that she hadn't even lived with Vincenzo, let alone borne him that small handsome edition of a Falcone. She strongly suspected that she would be shown the door and told to make herself scarce, and it wouldn't worry that man if Teri screamed for her. She had the feeling that he was hardened to the pain of other people.
'Vince was ever
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