Moth to the Flame (22 page)

helplessly. 'But, Jan, that's impossible. I have no work permit, for

one thing, and no money, or very little. And I have to get back to

England before September anyway for the start of term, so ...'

Jan stared up at her, her eyes narrowing. 'What in the world are you

talking about?' she asked impatiently. 'Sometimes, Julie, I think you

must be half-witted. I'm not proposing we should shack up together

in some hovel to hide my shame, if that's what you were thinking. In

case you'd forgotten, you're engaged to marry a very rich man, and I

can't imagine that he'll happily accept the idea of your returning to

England to teach a crowd of scruffy kids when you could be settling

down to raise his own
bambinos
.' She stretched smilingly. 'You've

been staying at the
castello,
and presumably that's where you'll be

returning when this little errand of mercy is at an end, so I'll come

too. I can't wait to get but of this hole,' she added petulantly. 'These

nuns are giving me the creeps. I swear they know I'm pregnant.'

'They probably do,' Juliet responded mechanically. 'They are nurses,

after all.' Her heart was thudding in sheer horror. She had never

imagined that Jan would make such a demand. In fact, she had been

sure that she would never want to see any of the Vallones again.

Desperately she remembered Santino's stricture that she should not

tell her sister that their engagement was a fraud. Yet how could she

hope to maintain the illusion even for a week or two if Jan moved in

with them?

Besides, in spite of what Santino had said about continuing with the

pretence until Mario and Francesca were married, she had hoped to

persuade
him
to let her return to England. She had never intended

for one moment to return to the
castello
under any circumstances.

Santino might have said that he did not intend to force his attentions

on her, but his resolve might falter in the intimate surroundings of

the
castello.
And if he did make love to her, she would not be able

to hide her response, her deep need any longer, although in some

ways, it would be even worse if he stuck to his word and did not

touch her, she thought wretchedly.

'Well, what's the matter? You look as if you've seen a ghost,' Jan

said. She smiled. 'Come on, love, don't look so stricken. If you were

planning a premature honeymoon, I'll be very discreet. I won't

intrude, I promise. Besides,' she gave a little knowing chuckle, 'you

might be quite glad to have me there—to advise you.'

Juliet felt sick. 'No,' she said. 'It—it's quite impossible...'

A cool voice from the doorway interrupted. 'Forgive me, but what is

impossible?'

Santino strolled forward, his eyes travelling from the tense girl

standing at the window, to her smiling, relaxed counterpart in the

bed. He paused for a moment, his eyes narrowing a little as he

surveyed them both.

'An amazing resemblance,' he murmured, half to himself. 'Has no

one ever commented on it before?'

'No,' said Jan. Juliet saw her lips pout a little, and knew she would

not be delighted at Santino's comment. She was so used to everyone

automatically regarding her as the pretty one, and had always

tended to be dismissive towards' anyone who in the past had seen

the resemblance between them. She gave Santino a beguiling smile.

'You're seeing me at a disadvantage, of course,
signore.
My

cosmetic case was one of the casualties in the accident.'

'A small loss compared to what might have been,' Santino said

quietly. He stood at the bedside and looked down at her for a long

moment. 'So we meet at last, Janina. You should not mourn the loss

of your cosmetics, you know. Beauty such as yours needs no

adornment.'

Juliet felt herself stiffen, recognising the ironic note in his voice and

fearful that Jan would hear it too, but her sister took the remark at

its face value and laughed up at him.

'I'm sorry we haven't met before, too,' she said provocatively. 'What

a pity, now that we have met, that you happen to be engaged to my

sister.'

Juliet had to smother a gasp at the blatancy of the remark and

turned away to stare blindly down into the street below. She'd had

no idea what Santino was going to say to Jan when he'd entered the

room, but she hadn't expected him to stand over the bed, holding

her hand in his.

'I too would have preferred a meeting under slightly different

circumstances,' she heard him say in reply, but there was no irony in

his voice this time, merely a kind of appreciative amusement.

That's the sort of remark he's used to, Juliet thought desolately.

She's the sort of woman he's used to. A quick, enjoyable affair, with

no bones broken on either side when it's over. They're two of a

kind.

His voice went on smoothly. 'So what is impossible, Giulietta? You

were in the middle of some explanation when I entered.'

She did not turn and look at him. In a wooden little voice she said,

'Jan wants to come back to the
castello
with us. She's tired of the

clinic and—and she feels a quiet rest in the sun would do her good.'

'An admirable idea,' he approved. 'Did you imagine there might be

some difficulty?'

Still not looking at either of them, Juliet said in the same wooden

voice, 'I wasn't sure that we would be returning to the
castello.'
Her

hands were gripped in front of her so tightly that her knuckles were

white with the strain.

'Naturally we shall be returning there,' he said almost casually. 'And

it would be an excellent arrangement for your sister to accompany

us. She would make a far more adequate
compagna
over the next

few weeks than Annunziata.'

'A chaperone?' Juliet heard Jan giggle. 'Well, it will be novel

anyway.'

Feeling slightly dizzy, she turned away from the window,

murmuring something about finding one of the sisters and retrieving

Jan's case. As she gained the corridor, Santino came after her.

'What's the matter with you?' he demanded, his fingers grasping her

arm. 'Where are you running to?'

She faced him. 'Jan will need her things,' she said defensively,

trying to free her arm.

He gestured impatiently. 'She will certainly not be allowed to leave

the clinic tonight,' he averred incisively. 'Both she and Mario are

still under observation. Tomorrow will be soon enough to find what

things of hers were salvaged from the car.' He gave her a searching

look. 'What is troubling you?'

'I can't go back to the
castello,'
she said desperately. 'Santino, I

can't. I—I must go home—back to England. I have responsibilities

...'

'You have responsibilities here,' he interrupted coldly. 'You

involved yourself in this affair of your own will, but you remain

here through mine, and we will see this thing through to the bitter

end.'

'And is it your—will that Jan should move in with us to the

castello
?' she demanded.

'The idea had not occurred to me before,' he said coolly. 'But it has

much to recommend it, particularly as I learn that Francesca and her

mother are on their way here to visit Mario. I would prefer in some

ways for your sister to be at a safe distance before their arrival, so

that Vittoria does not get the chance to plant any of her little

poisoned darts.'

'And that is the only reason?' she asked, sick at heart.

'No,' he studied her face for a moment, his own expression

hardening, 'I admit frankly that it is not. You are neither a child nor

a fool, Giulietta, so you must know why I have agreed to invite her.'

'Yes,' she said almost inaudibly, 'I think I do.'

She heard him draw a little breath, and felt his fingers cup her chin

lifting her face towards his. With a sense of panic, she knew that he

was going to kiss her, and she tore herself free from his slackened

grasp, stepping backwards.

'You promised.' Her voice sounded high and a little strained. 'You

said that our engagement would only exist in public.'

He took a half-step towards her, his eyebrows lifting mockingly. 1

can think of few places more public than the corridor of a hospital,

with the good Sisters likely to come upon us at any minute,' he

observed. 'But don't worry,
cara.
Your precious chastity is safe for

the moment. My mother has asked me to bring you to Mario's

room, so that you may meet him.'

'What a farce it all is,' she said bitterly. 'Very well,
signore,
I'll go

and be presented as your future wife. But you don't have to

accompany me. As you said, I'm neither a child nor a fool, and I

can—just—manage to find two adjoining rooms in a hospital

corridor.'

'There are times, Giulietta,' he said quite pleasantly, 'when I could

quite willingly beat you. I should go quickly, if I were you, before

my impulse turns to compulsion.'

At the door, she hesitated. Inside, through the thin partition, she

could hear the Signora talking with great rapidity, with occasional

low-voiced interventions by her husband, and she could guess what

the subject of the good lady's diatribe was. For a moment she

regretted telling Santino she did not want his company. It wasn't the

easiest thing in the world to push open a door and walk into a room

where you would only be received on sufferance.

If he was still watching her, she decided, she would swallow her

pride and ask him to come with her. She swung towards him and

paused, the words dying unuttered on her lips. He wasn't watching

her. He wasn't even glancing in her direction. He was walking with

cool purpose back to Janina's room, and as Juliet stood watching

with a kind of sick incredulity, he reached the door and stepped

inside.

The door closed behind him, and she was left standing alone in a

long empty corridor.

As she viewed her luxurious hotel suite that evening, it occurred to

Juliet rather forcibly the kind of influence that money like Santino's

could have, producing accommodation like this for his family in one

of the best hotels at the height of the tourist season.

Nothing had been forgotten, from the well-stocked refrigerated

cabinet full of drinks of all kinds to the huge bowl of red roses

placed on the table beside the bed. Courtesy of the management,

she supposed, as she bent appreciatively to drink in their rich

perfume, but she was wrong. There was a small white card wired to

one of the stems, its surface crossed by the one uncompromising

word 'Santino'.

Juliet straightened abruptly and glanced at the signature. She was

strongly tempted to sweep the flowers, bowl and all, into the

wastepaper bin at the other side of the room. But that would only be

an empty gesture, she told herself, as empty as that which had sent

the flowers of love to a girl masquerading as the beloved. Her most

dignified course of action would be to ignore them altogether, and

this would be far easier if they were not beside her bed.

She picked them up and carried them resolutely out of the bedroom,

into the small elegant sitting room which opened off it. There was a

small gilt-legged table behind the sofa and she put the bowl down

on this, turning it so that the tell-tale card was concealed.

When a knock fell on the door of the suite just as she was

completing this task, she started so violently that she jerked the

bowl and a few drops of water spilled out on to. the marble top of

the table.

'Oh, damn!' She scrubbed at it with her handkerchief, remembering

belatedly to call
'Avanti,'
and then in the same moment wishing that

she had not done so, because it was probably Santino.

But it was the Signora who entered, dressed fashionably in grey

lace with the inevitable sparkle of diamonds at her throat and

wrists. Juliet gazed at her in some surprise. During the brief visit

she had paid to Mario's room, the Signora's manner had been cool

and remote, and she had certainly not expected her to seek her

company.

The meeting with Mario had been as awkward as she could have

imagined. During the rather stilted conversation that followed the

introduction, she felt his eyes resting on her wonderingly, and knew

resignedly that he too had been struck by her resemblance to Jan.

She supposed that he too bore a superficial resemblance to Santino,