City of Secrets (16 page)

Filippo di Chimici had brought several servants with him to Padavia and Enrico had soon chummed up with one particularly friendly footman. They had found a shared interest in horses and Strega, and Giuseppe was perfectly willing to talk about his master over a few glasses of their favourite drink.

‘Staying with Prince Gaetano his brother-in-law in Giglia, wasn't he?' said Enrico.

‘For all the time he was there,' said Giuseppe.

‘Not there long then?'

‘Couple of nights,' said Giuseppe. ‘He spent more time at the Nucci palace.'

‘Oh, with his cousin?'

‘The Grand Duke,' said Giuseppe. ‘He was the one who sent for him.'

‘Sent for him?'

‘I delivered the letter, didn't I?' said Giuseppe. ‘Family crest and brought by a servant in the Grand Duke's livery. Next thing we knew we were all packing up and heading for Giglia. But we were hardly unpacked in the Palazzo di Chimici before we set off here again.'

‘Interesting,' said Enrico. ‘Another drink?'

He was using up Luciano's silver fast but it would be worth it.

Five hungry teenagers were filling the kitchen when Andy Wood came down to breakfast: Matt, Ayesha (‘so they're back on again') and three that Andy didn't know – two strikingly handsome youths with black curls (one of whom was rather strangely dressed) and a girl with tiger-striped hair. They all jumped guiltily when he came in.

‘Don't mind me,' he said. ‘Just let me at the coffee.'

Matt introduced Georgia and Nick but the other young man seemed to have gone. Ayesha made his coffee for him. Andy noted that they had left him some bacon and tomato and set to with the frying pan. He wondered if he had hallucinated the second black-haired boy.

But Matt was acting very strangely, taking an unopened bottle of olive oil from the cupboard and a carton of sea salt and a shallow mixing-bowl.

‘What is this?' asked Andy. ‘Are you and Yesh setting up a cookery school?'

Matt was saved from answering by the return of Jan and Harry. But he was disconcerted to see that they were accompanied by his great-aunt Eva. He had completely forgotten she was coming to stay for a few days and knew it would make it difficult to get away.

The kitchen was ridiculously full now. Georgia was asking if she could wash up the breakfast things, and Jan, a bit disconcerted by the impromptu morning party, was politely saying she needn't worry and everything could go in the dishwasher.

Matt allowed himself to be embraced by Eva and then said, ‘Sorry, but I promised we'd go to the hospital to see Jago.'

‘That's good of you,' said Jan. ‘I'm sure Celia would appreciate a break. And I can't go myself. But I doubt they'll let all of you in. Are you two close friends of Jago?' she asked Georgia and Nick.

‘No,' said Nick. ‘Georgia and I won't go in. We'll just wait outside.'

Both the Wood parents were relieved when Matt and his friends left and they were back down to a manageable four. But they didn't see the young people being joined by the second black-haired boy in the front garden and Andy had already forgotten he had ever been there.

‘That was a close thing,' said Matt to Luciano, giving him a slice of toast. ‘My mum would have recognised you.'

‘I recognised her,' said Luciano. ‘She used to teach me English.' His expression was unreadable. ‘We'd better get along to the hospital.'

He attracted some odd glances on the bus but people soon looked away.

‘It's like
Star Wars
,' whispered Ayesha. ‘It's as if he had some sort of Jedi powers.'

‘Well, I hope the Force is with us this morning,' said Luciano.

Ayesha was embarrassed; she hadn't meant him to hear.

‘How is this going to work?' asked Nick. ‘I mean, Matt knows the spell and he's got his ingredients but I don't see them just letting even him and Ayesha walk into ICU and start messing around with salad dressing or whatever it is.'

‘I think that's where I come in,' said Luciano. ‘We'll have to play it by ear but I think it will be up to me to create a diversion.'

*

Staff Nurse Stella Watkins had worked on ICU a long time but the case of Jago Jones was not like any she had seen before. He wasn't any worse but he wasn't getting any better either. She was always worried about unexplained illness on the ward. There had been talk of tropical disease but so far no doctor had recommended an isolation cubicle. Yet Staff Nurse Watkins couldn't help visualising some unknown sickness infecting the unit and endangering all her other patients.

It distressed her to see Jago's mother in such a state of despair too. Stella Watkins had seen many grieving parents over her years in ICU – that Mrs Mulholland was one she remembered well – but there had been some ecstatically happy and relieved ones too. She prayed that Jago's mother would be one of these.

But there was no sign of it yet. Nurse Watkins bustled round Jago's bed, taking his temperature, pulse and blood pressure. ‘No change,' she mouthed at Mrs Mulholland, who was a bit more awake than Mrs Jones. Then, softly, ‘Isn't it about time his mum got off home and let someone else sit with him for a while?'

And then the Asian girl came in. She was stunningly good-looking and Nurse Watkins had seen her before; she thought she was probably young Jago's girl. She was just what was needed at the moment, anyway: a fresh young person, looking well-rested and positive. She could sit with Jago or at least keep Mrs Jones company if she refused to leave.

‘There now, Mrs Mulholland,' she said brightly. ‘You take a break and let the young one take over.'

‘Thank you,' said Vicky. She was deathly tired and very stiff from dozing all night in a hospital chair. ‘I will pop home for a bit if that's all right, Celia?'

Celia Jones nodded, still groggy from her own uncomfortable night.

‘You go, Vicky. I'll be all right. Ayesha will sit with me.'

Ayesha was wondering how on earth to get Jago's mother to leave so that she could let Matt in to do what he had to, when she heard a scream from the hall.

‘That's Vicky,' said Celia and both she and Nurse Watkins left Jago's cubicle.

Ayesha ran into the corridor and, deliberately ignoring what was happening at the other end, dragged Matt into the cubicle.

‘Quick,' she said. ‘We probably don't have much time. I don't know how long your Luciano can distract them.'

Matt rummaged in his plastic bag. Now that it had come to it, he felt foolish balancing the mixing bowl on Jago's forehead; it didn't help that Ayesha was looking sceptical. He poured some water into the bowl from the carafe on Jago's bedside table then added a little olive oil from the bottle.

Outside there was still some commotion going on.

‘What now?' asked Ayesha. ‘Don't you have to chant or something?'

‘Now we wait,' said Matt. ‘It shouldn't take more than a few moments.'

And it didn't. Forming in the water was the unmistakable greeny-yellow outline of an open eye.

‘Like
Big Brother
,' said Ayesha, fascinated.

‘More like Sauron in Mordor,' said Matt, excited in spite of the danger. ‘It's the evil eye, all right.'

He struggled with the canister of salt, trying to get it to the setting where only a sprinkling would come out, then cast it at the oily ‘eye'. Immediately the pattern on the surface broke up.

‘Is that it?' said Ayesha, in an agony of anticipation. ‘We've got to get rid of this stuff. Mrs Jones and the nurse will be back any minute.'

‘Wait,' said Matt.

There was a change in Jago's shallow breathing. He started to move his head.

‘Quick – take it off!' said Ayesha, rushing to catch the bowl before it spilled water, oil and salt all over the bed.

Jago's eyes opened. ‘Ayesha?' he said croakily. Then he saw Matt and suddenly looked scared.

They just had time to push the bowl and carrier bag under the bed before Nurse Watkins came in.

‘Who's this?' she asked sharply then, sniffing, ‘What's that funny smell?'

‘Oh nurse,' said Ayesha. ‘Jago's just woken up. Isn't it wonderful?'

Staff Nurse Watkins was as white as her own plastic apron. What she had seen in the corridor was something her mind could not encompass. So she dealt with something she could understand and bleeped the duty doctor.

‘Go and tell his mother. You, young man,' she said to Matt. ‘You shouldn't be here anyway. Go and tell Mrs Jones that her son is awake.'

Matt walked out in the corridor feeling ridiculously happy. He had probably lost Ayesha but Jago wasn't going to die. He felt as he had when Constantin had placed his hand on his head and taken away the guilt.

Outside he found Luciano and Celia Jones and a woman he knew to be Mrs Mulholland. All at once, he understood what had happened. It was Vicky Mulholland that looked on the verge of fainting and Jago's mother who was comforting her. Luciano was stroking the hair of the woman Matt now realised was his mother.

‘Look after her,' he told Matt and disappeared into Jago's cubicle.

Nurse Watkins scarcely registered that Luciano had come into the cubicle before he had taken her hand, looked into her eyes and murmured something under his breath.

‘I . . . I must go and find the doctor,' said Nurse Watkins, brushing a hand across her forehead, and left Luciano and Ayesha alone with Jago. The sick boy looked terrified at the sight of Luciano; he was a year older than Ayesha and he knew what he was seeing. He remembered Lucien Mulholland. But Luciano put his hand on Jago's brow and said more words to him and the boy relaxed.

‘Now we must take Matt's stuff and leave quickly,' warned Luciano.

Ayesha grabbed the bowl. ‘I'll tip this away in the visitor's loo,' she said practically.

Luciano pulled the bag out from under the bed and they both went out into the corridor. Ayesha sped off in the other direction while Luciano went to Jago's mother.

‘Mrs Jones,' he said, ‘your son is well again,' and he passed his hand in front of her eyes.

Celia Jones hurried into the cubicle without a second look at her friend. That left Matt and Luciano with Vicky and they were soon joined by Ayesha with the empty bowl.

‘Are you all right?' she asked Vicky, still not knowing who she was.

‘Oh yes,' said Vicky Mulholland, smiling. ‘I couldn't possibly be better.'

Chapter 16

When is it Right to Kill a Man?

At the hospital entrance, Nick and Georgia were astonished to see Luciano walking out with Vicky, with Matt and Ayesha trailing behind. Vicky was keeping herself upright and steady as she walked in silence to the car park, but it was costing her an effort. Nick and Georgia fell in beside Matt and Ayesha and spoke in whispers.

‘Did it work?' asked Nick.

‘Yes,' said Matt. ‘At least he's come out of the coma. I think he'll be all right. But it was pretty hairy.'

‘What about, you know, Luciano's mother?' asked Georgia. ‘Didn't she freak out when she saw him?'

‘Yes, but that helped a lot. Luciano said he was going to create a diversion but I don't think even he dreamed of bumping into his mother.'

‘Mine too, now,' said Nick.

‘What do you mean, his mum?' said Ayesha. She was completely in the dark about what was going on. ‘How can that Talian be Mrs Mulholland's son?' Then she remembered something and her hand flew to her mouth. ‘You don't mean . . . not the one that died?'

There was just time for Matt to nod and then they were at Vicky's Renault.

‘I haven't got room for you all,' she said brightly, fumbling in her bag for her keys.

‘That's all right, Mrs Mulholland,' said Matt. ‘I'll walk Ayesha home.'

Without any consultation, Nick and Georgia got in the back and Luciano sat next to his mother. It was over two years since he had been in a car.

‘What happened to the Peugeot?' he asked Vicky.

She turned in her seat, the keys still dangling in the lock.

‘Can I touch you?' she asked quietly.

In answer Luciano reached over and hugged her. Vicky clung on to him tightly and the others heard her sobbing. Georgia reached out to Nick; this must be very peculiar for him.

‘How are you here?' said Vicky at last, as Luciano got tissues out of the glove compartment and handed them to her. ‘You seem much more real than the other times.'

‘I'm getting better at it,' he said.

‘You sound as if you have a sore throat,' she said, concerned.

‘I'm quite well,' said Luciano. ‘You don't need to worry about me.'

Vicky gave a bitter laugh and blew her nose.

Nick couldn't restrain himself any longer. ‘Are you all right, Vicky?' he said, reaching awkwardly forward to touch her.

‘Oh, Nick,' she said. ‘I don't know. It's wonderful to see Lucien again but so weird. I think I must be dreaming.' She switched the engine on.

‘Are you OK to drive?' asked Georgia.

‘I will be as long as no one says anything,' said Vicky. ‘I just want to get home and call David.'

Barbara had, as predicted, managed much better this time. For a start there was no state dinner to worry about. She had dined with Rodolfo and Silvia alone, apart from the servants, and the Regent and his wife were kindness itself, introducing no topic that could trip her up. But it was still disconcerting to be waited on and she could not relax.

It was a relief when a groom brought the great cats into the salon. Barbara was used to them now and they to her. They were ready to be stroked and looked expectantly for morsels saved from her plate. It did not strike them as unusual that the maid sat where the mistress should; they cared only that she smelled familiar and was in the habit of giving them food.

When the cats had been taken away, Rodolfo dismissed the servants and Barbara immediately felt better. It was nice just to be sitting down, something maids didn't do very often. And the dress was lovely. She smoothed the embroidered green silk of the skirt between her fingers; milady had such lovely things.

‘I wonder how Arianna is getting on,' said Silvia, sipping the digestivo the servants had brought.

‘At least she will be well protected,' said Rodolfo. ‘Parola tells me your fiancé has been an apt pupil, Barbara.'

‘Thank you, sir,' said Barbara. She had also been wondering what was going on in Padavia. She would be glad when the Cavaliere had finished his studies and was safely back in Bellezza. ‘I think that Marco has enjoyed the lessons.'

There was knock at the door and a footman brought a message to Rodolfo on a salver.

While the servant waited for a reply, Rodolfo read it out loud.

‘His Eminence Cardinal di Chimici desires to wait upon us, my dear,' he said to Barbara. The girl sat up straight.

‘Now, sir . . . Father?'

‘If convenient,' said Rodolfo. ‘If you are unwell, I can put him off. But a cardinal of the Reman Church should, of course, be received with all honour and respect.'

It was clear what he wanted her to do. Barbara nodded.

‘Very well,' said Rodolfo to the footman. ‘Please show His Eminence to the red drawing-room and bring further refreshment for us all there.'

When the footman had gone, Silvia said, ‘I think I should absent myself from this audience.'

‘No,' said Rodolfo. ‘I think you should be there. We have to face the di Chimici as man and wife at some point.' He glanced towards the girl in the green silk dress. ‘Will you be all right, my dear? You don't have to say much beyond a greeting. I can speak for you.'

‘I shall do my best, sir,' said Barbara.

‘But you must remember to call me “Father”,' said Rodolfo kindly.

‘I shall try, sir,' said the maid.

‘Ah, there you are,' said Eva, when Matt came home alone. ‘I hope you've stopped rushing about all over the place. I want to have a nice chat with you.'

Jan popped her head round the door. ‘Oh Matt, I've just had a call from Celia at the hospital. She said that Jago might be coming home as early as this afternoon! But you know he's better, don't you? Celia said you'd visited him this morning. That was good of you.'

‘He's a good boy,' said Eva comfortably.

You don't know how wrong you are, thought Matt, but there was nothing he could do but smile. ‘That's great,' he said, feeling that his face was going to crack and fall off.

‘Where's Ayesha?' asked Jan.

‘I took her home,' said Matt.

‘Oh what a shame,' said Eva. ‘I was looking forward to meeting her properly. I thought she looked a lovely girl.'

Matt said nothing. He wasn't going to tell his great-aunt, in front of his mother, what the situation was between him and Ayesha. He wasn't even sure he knew what it was himself. Yesh had been acting very strangely on the way home. Realising who Luciano was seemed to have flipped her over the edge. He'd left her at her house, telling her mother she was overtired and needed to lie down.

‘Now tell me all about your university plans,' said Eva. ‘Jan tells me you're thinking of Cambridge.'

Matt groaned inwardly. He wondered who had told Jan but she had tactfully withdrawn.

‘Which college?' Eva was asking.

‘Queens,' said Matt at random, remembering one that Georgia had mentioned.

‘Oh, very good,' said Eva. ‘Just down the road from my old college, Newnham. Are they good for computers?'

‘Yes,' said Matt, secure that Eva was so language and literature-focused that she wouldn't be able to contradict him. ‘But I thought you were at Pembroke?'

Eva laughed. ‘I
taught
at Pembroke before I got the job at Sussex, but that was a men's college when I was an undergraduate. Newnham was where I got my degree – women only.'

It sounded like something out of the Ark to Matt. ‘I don't suppose I'll get in, though,' he said hastily. ‘It's very hard.'

‘Well, at least you won't have to sit an exam,' said Eva. ‘They'll go on your A level results and an interview.'

‘I haven't even done my AS yet,' Matt reminded her. ‘I don't have to decide until next year.'

‘It's good to start thinking about it now though,' said Eva. ‘Maybe if you haven't spent my birthday present yet, you could get a book about the application process?'

Matt felt guilty; he hadn't thanked her. He never did. Writing was hard for him but he could have phoned. He decided on a whim to tell her the truth.

‘I got this,' he said, pulling the Talian spell-book from his jeans pocket. He never went anywhere without it now.

Eva seemed fascinated. She took the book from him and unwound the leather straps almost reverently.

‘How extraordinary,' she said. ‘A strange book for a dyslexic to choose.'

Matt froze. Usually Eva was rather vague about what was going on but she seemed pin-sharp today. But if she knew,
really
knew, about his condition, why did she persist in sending him book tokens?

‘It spoke to me,' he said in the end.

‘I can understand that,' said his great-aunt. ‘Books have been speaking to me all my life. But it's unusual for you, isn't it? Oh, I know you think I'm a gaga old woman who can't remember what my great-nephews are like. But that isn't so. I just kept sending you the tokens in the hope that one day you'd find the right book. The one that spoke to you. I didn't think it would be a Renaissance book of spells though.'

‘You know what it is?' said Matt.

‘I know what it looks like,' said Eva. ‘A Latin spell-book from some time in the sixteenth century. I'd like to know where you got such a valuable book for twenty pounds. In fact I'd like to go there myself.'

*

The scene at Luciano's old house was uncanny for all of them. He hadn't managed ever to get inside it in his previous stravagations, let alone speak to his mother, or hug her. Nick felt completely superfluous. Usurped, even though he was the usurper, the one who now slept in Luciano's old bed. As soon as Vicky had called her husband and told him to come home immediately, Georgia dragged Nick off to the kitchen to make coffee; she was as at home in his house as in her own.

‘You've got to give them some time alone,' she insisted. ‘Don't look so miserable. He'll be gone in a few hours – you're her son now.'

But it wasn't as easy as she was pretending. She had been so used to Nick being jealous of Luciano on her account that it was hard to accept his new set of feelings about another woman, even though that woman was his foster-mother.