An Engagement Of Convenience. CATHERINE GEORGEЧитать онлайн книгу.
she said quickly, and turned towards the open doorway. ‘Let’s go inside.’
Indoors, in the warm light from the lamps in the salon, Harriet was composed enough to smile politely into Leo’s watchful face as she resumed her place on the sofa.
‘Will I know all the guests at the party tomorrow?’ she asked, determinedly conversational. Rosa had made a list of likely people, and described their background and relationships, but if Leo had any helpful information Harriet was keen to add it to her research.
‘Mainly the family and a few of Nonna’s friends. Why? Will that bore you?’ he asked cuttingly.
Harriet shook her head, determined, if it killed her, to keep things pleasant. ‘No. But it’s years since I was here. I’m worried I won’t remember everybody.’
Leo gave her a smile which raised the hairs along her spine. ‘In that case, little cousin, I shall stay very close at all times to whisper reminders in your ear.’
‘Bravo,’ approved Signora Fortinari, coming to join them. ‘It is good to see you together, friends again.’
‘For you, Nonna, anything that makes you happy,’ declared Leo. ‘But now I must leave. I have many things to do before I seek my lonely bed.’
His grandmother reached up to kiss his cheek. ‘Try to seek it a little earlier tonight, my love.’
He laughed affectionately, and patted her hand. ‘Have no fear, Nonna. I shall make sure that Dante, Mirella and Franco all arrive in good time tomorrow.’
‘Such a pity that your mother and father are in California,’ sighed the signora. ‘But I absolutely forbade them to cut short their holiday.’ A sudden smile lit the magnificent dark eyes. ‘And to make up for their absence I have Rosa.’
‘For which, of course, we all rejoice,’ said Leo smoothly, and moved to stand over Harriet. ‘Good night, cousin. I shall see you tomorrow.’
She tensed, afraid for a split second that he intended to kiss her. Instead he raised her hand to his lips, looking into her eyes to gauge her reaction as he deliberately touched his tongue to her hot skin.
She pulled her hand away and bade him a very husky good night, her colour heightened. With a look of triumph in his eyes he bowed gracefully, turned away to embrace his grandmother, then left them alone together.
Vittoria Fortinari turned to Harriet with a happy sigh. ‘Now, darling, what would you like to drink before we go to bed?’
Harriet had trouble in getting to sleep that night, her wakefulness nothing to do with the fear of discovery, or the strange bed, or even nerves about the party. The problem was Leo Fortinari. For some reason she’d taken it for granted she would feel as hostile towards him as Rosa did. It had never occurred to her that she would be so powerfully attracted to him. On the moonlit loggia it had taken every last scrap of will-power she possessed to withstand the persuasion of his mouth and skilled, arousing fingertips. Harriet shivered, her face burning as she felt her nipples rise and harden against the silk of Rosa’s nightgown. If he’d kissed her mouth... She flipped over in the bed, her hands clenched in the pillow as she burrowed her face into it.
What was Leonardo Fortinari up to? she thought stormily. According to Rosa he had been the deciding factor in her exile from Fortino all these years. And right up to the little interlude on the loggia his attitude had shown small sign of change. Which had made his lovemaking all the more shocking. Harriet gritted her teeth. Her main worry now was nothing to do with the guests at the party, only the fact that Leo had promised—or threatened—to stay close by her side all night to supply the missing names. A prospect which did nothing at all for her insomnia.
Vittoria Fortinari’s birthday dawned bright and sunny, chilly enough at the Villa’s altitude for Harriet to put on one of Rosa’s sweaters over her shirt and jeans to eat breakfast. She stole downstairs, holding a large shiny carrier bag behind her back, and met Silvia in the hall, carrying a large tray into the salon.
‘Good morning. The signora will be with you in a moment,’ gasped the plump little woman, as she put the tray down on a table. ‘She ordered breakfast in here just for today. The dining room is ready for the party.’
‘Can I do anything to help?’ asked Harriet, hiding the bag behind a chair.
Silvia looked doubtful. ‘But the signora—’
‘I’d like to help,’ said Harriet firmly.
‘In what way, exactly?’ asked Vittoria Fortinari, hurrying into the room. ‘Good morning, darling. You can bring the coffee in now, Silvia, please.’
‘Good morning, and happy, happy birthday,’ said Harriet, kissing Rosa’s grandmother with an affection she found remarkably easy. Her own grandmother would have pushed her away irritably if she’d tried anything so demonstrative.
‘Thank you, Rosa.’ Vittoria beamed, looking so happy Harriet banished all her qualms about the impersonation and set herself to make the day as special for Rosa’s grandmother as possible.
They sat down with plates on their knees in picnic fashion, the older woman obviously enjoying the novelty as they ate slices of melon and ate hot rolls fresh from the bakery in the village before finishing all the coffee Silvia brought them. While they ate Harriet volunteered her skill at table-laying, and at folding napkins into flower shapes, skills Vittoria took to be part of Rosa’s training at the Hermitage, but which had actually been acquired in less exalted catering establishments during Harriet’s university vacations.
‘I really would like to help,’ said Harriet, meaning it on her own behalf, and at the same time hoping the offer would win points for Rosa.
‘Then you shall,’ said the signora fondly. ‘I can set a table well enough, but transforming napkins into flowers is beyond me, alas. And certainly beyond Silvia and the helpers we’ve brought in from the village. ’
Once Silvia had cleared away, Harriet reached behind her chair for the large scarlet bag and handed it over. ‘Happy birthday again, Nonna.’
Signora Fortinari received the bag with girlish excitement, exclaiming at the number of parcels inside. Knowing that Rosa had taken endless time and care to think of a gift that would please her grandmother most, Harriet watched, feeling tense on Rosa’s behalf, as Vittoria unwrapped a box and lifted the lid, then stared down at its contents with eyes which filled with tears she dashed instantly away. She took out the photograph with unsteady hands, one finger smoothing the chased silver frame as she gazed down at the faces of her daughter and son-in-law, taken only a month before the air crash.
Rosa had taken the photograph herself on her parents’ last anniversary. Happy and smiling on a sunlit afternoon on the beach where the family had gathered for a picnic, the couple were laughing at the camera, their arms around each other.
For a moment, as she watched, Harriet experienced a painful sense of intrusion. Then she forced herself back into the role she was playing, and cleared her throat. ‘I thought you’d like to remember them like that. I hope it hasn’t made you sad.’
Rosa’s grandmother put the photograph down very gently, then embraced Harriet, kissing her tenderly. ‘Such a beautiful thought, Rosa. Thank you, my darling. ’
‘Open the rest, then,’ commanded Harriet huskily. ‘Another one from me, and one each from Tony and Allegra.’
Rosa’s second gift was a cashmere sweater and long cardigan in a subtle shade of rose pink, and Signora Fortinari promptly tried on the cardigan, and pronounced it perfect. She kept it on as she unwrapped Tony’s present, which was a set of photograph frames, but in gold leaf and empty this time, ready to frame studies of the new little Mostyn when he arrived.
‘They know it is a son?’ said the prospective great-grandmother in wonder.
‘Modern technology, Nonna,’ said Harriet.
Allegra’s