Moth to the Flame (20 page)

slightest physical contact between them and she had the oddest

sensation that she would shiver into a thousand tiny fragments.

'Please don't let's talk about—last night,' she said at last, haltingly;

'Of course not,' he agreed too urbanely. 'Let us dismiss it from our

minds—pretend that it never happened.'

Staring down at the pebbles at her feet, she said slowly 'After all, it

isn't as if it—meant anything. You—you thought I was Jan, that's

all, which is what I wanted you to think, so it was my own fault ...'

Her voice tailed away rather desperately and there was nothing on

earth that could have forced her to look up and meet his gaze.

'Very true.' His voice was silky. 'You are an accomplished actress,

mia cara—
almost too accomplished for your own good, if you will

forgive me for saying so. If you intend to make impersonations of

your sister part of your way of life, I advise you to choose your

company rather carefully. Next time you may not get off quite so

lightly.'

A voice inside her was screaming, 'But I didn't get off lightly! Not

lightly at all.' And for a moment she was terrified that she had

spoken aloud, and betrayed to him all her misery and regret and

hopeless longing.

'Jan can manage without my help from now on,' she said with a

surface lightness she was far from feeling. 'She has a husband to

look after her now and ...'

'It seems not.' His tone was dry. 'I'm afraid your dangerous pretence

was all in vain, Giulietta. Mario and your sister are not married, nor

ever likely to be, according to my mother's information.'

'But they must be!' Juliet burst out wildly. 'It can't all have been for

nothing—it can't!'

She sank down on the nearest rock and buried her face in her

hands. It was impossible that she'd let her whole life be turned

upside down, relinquished her peace of mind and much of her

self-respect, possibly for ever, only to be casually told that it had all

been in vain.

At last, with a long quivering sigh, she looked up and met his eyes.

'So you've won—after all.'

'It isn't a victory I'm particularly proud of,' he said harshly. 'And it

isn't complete by any means.'

She made the effort to get to her feet. 'The favour I wanted to ask,'

she said wearily. 'Can you have me taken to Naples to see Jan?

She'll be upset. She'll need someone.'

'At the moment she is in good hands,' he said. 'Yet I can understand

your anxiety. My mother also fears some calamity will happen if

she does not visit Mario immediately. But there is a problem.'

She looked at him, startled, and he gave a little twisted smile.

'I did tell you that I needed your help,' he reminded her. 'When my

mother received the message from the hospital, she was spending a

few days in a villa at Brindisi with
my
stepfather's sister. When they

set off to come to me here, she insisted on accompanying

them—for. reasons best known to herself.' He paused. 'When they

arrived, I had no idea they were not alone, and I was frankly

horrified when Mamma revealed that Vittoria was waiting in the

car. She is clearly determined to accompany us to Naples later this

morning, and there is no way of preventing her without arousing her

suspicions still further.'

'But why should you wish to prevent her?'

Santino thrust his hands into his pockets irritably. 'Because she is

not only my mother's sister-in-law,' he said with an edge to his

voice, 'she is also the
madrina
—the godmother—to Mario's fiancée

Francesca.'

'Mario's—fiancée?' The breath left Juliet's body in a disbelieving

gasp.

He smiled thinly. 'You didn't know he was already
fidanzato?
Your

sister had left that small detail out of her marriage plans?'

'She mentioned something—about an arranged marriage.' Juliet bent

her head. 'But I got the impression that it was all in the

future—nothing definite.'

He raised his eyebrows. 'The date of the ceremony had already been

fixed,' he drawled. 'Francesca naturally knows nothing about your

sister's existence. She is young, very lovely, very innocent, and she

loves my headstrong fool of a brother more than he deserves.

Naturally, we do not wish her to know how churlishly he has repaid

her devotion.'

'No,' Juliet agreed dully. 'But what has this got to do with her

godmother? Surely she wouldn't... ?'

'You think not?' Santino shook his head. 'When Vittoria's husband

died he did not leave her as well provided for as she believed he

would—or should, though she is far from poor, you understand.

Francesca's family on the other hand is very wealthy, and Francesca

herself is a considerable heiress—and Vittoria has a son, one year

younger than Mario. If she could destroy the engagement between

Mario and Francesca, then perhaps ...' He paused significantly.

'But that would be wicked,' Juliet said incredulously. 'To

deliberately set out to ruin someone's happiness for monetary gain

...' She caught his ironic glance and her voice tailed into silence,

while a blush rose to the roots of her hair.

'Wicked, yes,' he said drily. 'But to Vittoria's mind, eminently

practical. She already suspects that Mario has been—playing

around. If she arrives at the clinic and finds your sister in an

adjoining room, injured in the same crash, it will not take her long

to supply the rest of the details.'

'So how are you going to stop her?' Juliet spread her hands out

helplessly.

'I am going to create a smokescreen,' he said. 'With your help. She

knows your sister well, of course, but you she does not know,

although she will have little difficulty in detecting the resemblance

when you do meet.'

'I think we met outside the bathroom earlier,' Juliet confessed.

He shrugged. 'It doesn't matter. All you have to do when we return

to the
castello
for breakfast is to accept without comment the story

I shall tell her to explain your presence, and also Janina's presence

in the clinic in Naples.'

'What are you going to say?' Juliet felt slightly sick.

'That you and I are engaged to be married,' he said blandly.

'What?'
She almost shrieked the word. 'You're mad!'

'No.' He shook his head. 'Listen to me,
cam,
and don't be hysterical.

By now Vittoria will have seen the newspapers and know there has

been some muddle because I am not here with Janina, I am here

with you. She enjoys scandal and has a nose for gossip. In fact she

is not above selling stories about some of her dearest friends to

newspaper columnists, not merely here in Italy but abroad as well.

Well, I can explain away that particular story—a reporter was too

hasty and made a mistake. Two sisters, both red-haired, both

English and beautiful—a simple error in identities. So today, I

announce that we are going to be married, and that I had already set

the wheels of a family party in action by inviting Mario down here

and requesting him to bring your sister with him; Before I could

issue invitations to the rest of the family—including

Francesca—Mario's car was involved in that unfortunate incident.'

'I won't do it!' Juliet's hands clenched into fists at her sides, the

knuckles showing white.

'Your help in exchange for mine—that .was the deal,' he reminded

her.

'But you can't bargain like that,' she protested.

'Why not?' The tawny eyes were fixed compellingly on her face.

'You are an accomplished actress,
mia,
as I told you. All you have

to do is act the part of my loving fiancée for a few days—and

persuade your sister to co-operate in our story.'

'I—persuade Jan?' Juliet shook her head. 'You have to be joking!'

'Oh, I was never more serious,
cara,'
he said softly. 'Consider, if

you will. At the moment, the only hint of scandal surrounding this

unsavoury affair is the story I myself fed to the newspapers, which

our engagement will give the lie to. But what will happen if the true

facts emerge, eh? Publicity will be unavoidable—Vittoria will see

to that—and it won't be simply in a few Italian newspapers. She

will make sure the story makes the headlines in London and New

York as well. It can only be a matter of time before your mother

whose feelings you are so anxious to spare sees it. You cannot

pretend it would add to her happiness or well-being to read such

things.'

There was a long, appalled silence while Juliet frantically attempted

to collect her thoughts. She remembered the malice in the eyes of

the woman she had seen that morning and imagined that malice

translated into newspaper terms and pictures. It was a degrading

and frightening prospect, and a blow from which Mrs Laurence

might never recover.

'One last point,' Santino said gently but inexorably. 'You may not

know, but Vittoria is the Contessa Leontana at whose party your

sister once disrobed with such spectacular success. I cannot

imagine she would leave out such a juicy incident if she

decided—regretfully, of course—to tell what she knew to the gutter

press.'

'But there must be some other way,' Juliet said desperately. 'I—I

can't pretend to be engaged to you—you must see that.'

His brows drew together haughtily. 'I regret that I see nothing of the

kind. The engagement I propose is largely for your own sake,

although considering the trick you played on me, I owe you nothing.

Once you are safely established as my
fidanzata,
Vittoria will not

dare snipe at you, because you will be under the protection of my

family, of which her own brother is a member. Even she would

hesitate to make trouble under such circumstances.'

Juliet looked away at the sun-drenched horizon and found it blurred

by the tears that were threatening to overwhelm her.

'And your mother?' she asked as soon as she thought she had

sufficient control over her voice. 'She has no very high opinion of

either my sister or myself, from what I gathered last night. How will

she accept this pseudo-engagement, or do you mean to tell her that

it's only a fraud?'

'That,
cara,
will remain a secret, just between the two of us,' he

drawled. 'You will oblige me by not even confiding in your sister.

As for my mother, there is no need for you to concern yourself. I

will deal with her.'

'And how long has this—farce to go 'on for?' she demanded bitterly.

'Until Mario and Francesca are safely married—or until I decide to

call a halt,' he said very softly. 'Whichever is the sooner. Don't look

so anguished, Giulietta. Our betrothal will be conducted in public

only. I shan't force my attentions on you in private.' He took her

chin in his hand and studied her face almost reflectively. 'Are you a

virgin?'

She could have reacted in a number of ways to such a question,

from old-fashioned outrage to a defiant reminder of the fact that it

was none of his business. Instead, her face burning under his

scrutiny, she heard herself mutter, 'Yes —does it matter?'

'I think it does.' He released her chin. 'I may not have been kind to

you, Giulietta, but at least I don't have to live with the knowledge

that I seduced you.' He smiled rather mirthlessly. 'In Italy, a girl's

purity before marriage is still highly prized. I am glad I did not

cheat your husband,
mia cara.'

He waited for a moment, but she did not reply, then reached

forward and took her unresisting hand.

'Come,' he said. 'Let us go back now and tell them our —joyous

news.'

And as Juliet followed him across the rocks to the road and the

steps up to the
castello,
she realised for the first time in her life that

sometimes the most painful tears of all are those that one cannot

afford to shed.

'Well, darling, you have been clever.' Jan leaned back against her

pillows and stared up at her sister, her eyes glittering. 'I never knew

you were quite such a fast worker —and Santino Vallone is the

cherry off a very big cake.'

Juliet felt her already guilty flush deepen at her sister's mocking

words.

'Let's not discuss that now,' she said hurriedly. 'How— how are

you, Jan ?'

'As well as can be expected—isn't that the phrase they use?' Jan