The Wedding Arrangement

by Lucy Gordon

  ‘But I’m a tenant,’ he said, hurt. ‘Haven’t I the same rights as anyone else?’

  She drew a long, careful breath. ‘You are also the landlord-’

  ‘Then I should be here, and you can tell me what you think of me,’ he said with a winning smile.

  ‘Signor Cayman, if you’ve been reading my letters you know very well what your tenants think of you.’

  ‘But you were writing to me as landlord,’ he pointed out. ‘I’m here as a tenant, and I have several suggestions for dealing with the shady character who owns this building. I know his weaknesses, you see.’ He added confidingly, ‘There’s nothing like inside information.’

  This produced a ripple of laughter. Minnie had to respect these clever tactics, although she couldn’t help feeling excluded. She was their friend and defender, yet he was taking over, make her superfluous. Suddenly she was shivering inside. It was a feeling she hadn’t known since she’d returned to Italy, fourteen years earlier.

  She knew what he was up to, pretending friendship only to turn on them later. But she wouldn’t let him get away with it.

  ‘You’re quite right,’ she said, giving him a cool smile to let him know that battle had commenced. ‘But the really valuable inside information is held by me-information about this building and what it needs, what your tenants need. Without that, you know nothing. And if you really want to be well informed, signore, I suggest we start to inspect the building right now.’

  That should show him that she had regained the initiative.

  Then Enrico Talli spoke up.

  ‘But Signor Cayman is already doing that. He inspected my place this morning, and Guiseppe’s home this afternoon. He was most interested in what he saw, and has promised to take care of things.’

  Minnie drew a long, slow breath.

  ‘That is excellent news,’ she said, hoping that her confusion and dismay weren’t obvious.

  ‘But what about me?’ an elderly woman piped up, incensed that Enrico had received favoured treatment. ‘When do you look at my place?’

  ‘This is Signora Teresa Danto,’ Minnie explained.

  Luke smiled at the old lady. ‘And what is wrong with your apartment, signora?’

  ‘It’s in the wrong place,’ she said. ‘I want you to move it.’

  ‘That might be a little beyond my powers,’ he admitted.

  ‘It’s on the top floor,’ Minnie explained. ‘And it’s too large for her. Teresa needs something smaller and lower, so that she doesn’t have to climb so many stairs.’

  ‘Then perhaps I should take a look now,’ Luke said, rising and offering Teresa his arm.

  This brought a cheer from the assembled company, who all seemed to consider themselves invited. In a procession they left the room and followed Luke up the stairs to the top floor.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  T ERESA’S flat was in reasonable condition, but too large for one person. As soon as they entered Luke’s eyes were drawn to a low table on which stood a photograph of an elderly man.

  ‘My husband, Antonio,’ Teresa said with pride. ‘This is where we lived together. Now he is gone, and this place is too big for Tiberius and me.’

  Tiberius turned out to be an imposing black cat, sitting on a window sill, washing his face and observing proceedings with the indifference of one who knew that he would be all right, whoever else wasn’t.

  ‘Please move us on to a lower floor,’ Teresa pleaded. ‘I’m too old for those stairs, and Tiberius doesn’t like heights.’

  ‘In that case,’ Luke said at once, ‘you must take my flat, and I’ll move into yours.’

  There was a cheer of approval from the residents, and they all trooped downstairs to Luke’s flat.

  ‘We can start on the exchange tomorrow,’ he said. ‘It’ll need redecorating-’

  ‘Oh, no,’ Teresa said quickly. ‘It’s lovely as it is.’

  ‘It’s not,’ he said, surprised. ‘It’s a dump.’

  ‘But redecorating will be expensive,’ she said anxiously.

  ‘Only to me, not to you. And, since it’s so small, the rent will be lower than you’re paying now.’

  Teresa was ecstatic. ‘Lower rent? Then Tiberius can have fish every day.’

  ‘I guess he can,’ Luke said, amused.

  The old lady was as excited as a child who’d been promised a treat. She insisted that everyone must return to her home to celebrate and, since the tenants of the Residenza were always ready for a party, it was only a moment before the procession was making its way upstairs again.

  Luke was the hero of the hour. Minnie, watching him cynically, could only wonder at the ease with which he was winning everyone over. His clever stunt with Teresa did nothing for the rest of them, but they didn’t seem to notice that.

  He made his way across the room to her. ‘Aren’t you pleased that I’m doing the right thing?’

  ‘Never mind me. It’s them I want you to please.’

  ‘The truth is that hell will freeze over before you concede that I might have one good point.’

  ‘Well-’ she floundered.

  Then she saw him looking at her with one eyebrow cocked and something on his face that might have been real humour.

  ‘Maybe just one,’ she conceded.

  He grinned. ‘That really had to be dragged out of you with pincers, didn’t it?’

  ‘Of course it did. I’m a dragon, remember?’ She held out her hand. ‘Goodnight.’

  ‘You’re not going?’ he asked, scandalised.

  ‘I ought to do some work-’

  ‘Work won’t do your headache any good,’ he said shrewdly.

  She stared. ‘How do you know I have a headache?’

  ‘Something in the way you keep closing your eyes. It’s true, isn’t it?’

  ‘Yes, but it’s just a little one.’

  ‘It’ll grow into a big one if you don’t take care of it. No work. Come with me.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘We’re going to have a civilised coffee and a civilised talk, and celebrate our truce.’

  ‘Haven’t we already done that?’

  As she spoke he was curving his arm around her, not touching her but shepherding her in the direction he wanted to go. She smiled and went with him, content to get out of the noise and glare.

  Having urged her towards the stairs, he got in front of her.

  ‘Just in case you fall,’ he said. ‘It’s a long drop.’

  ‘Hey, I won’t fall apart because of a little headache,’ she protested. ‘I’m as tough as old boots.’

  ‘Sure, I can see that by looking at you.’

  As they went down, the noise faded behind them and she felt as though she were being engulfed by peace and quiet. It was a strange sensation to enjoy with Luke, but pleasant.

  Coming out of the arch into the street, she took deep lungfuls of air, turning her face up to the sky with an expression of ecstasy.

  ‘I suppose I look crazy,’ she said when she opened her eyes to find him watching her.

  ‘No, you look like someone who should do that more often. Feel better now?’

  ‘Yes, it’s a bit stuffy in that courtyard.’

  They began to stroll through streets where trattorias were still open, their lights gleaming on the cobblestones. Luke saw an all-night pharmacy on the corner and slipped in for a moment.

  ‘Just something for your head,’ he told her, emerging, ‘in case you find you’re not as tough as you think.’

  ‘Sometimes I’m not,’ she agreed. ‘Sometimes I just want to lie down and go to sleep.’

  ‘You missed a trick there,’ he said. ‘Never admit a weakness to the other side. I shall pounce on it and use it to undermine you.’

  She gave a rueful laugh. ‘Will you?’

  ‘Well, maybe not this time.’

  ‘Besides, I already know your weakness.’

  ‘I don’t have one,’ he said at once.

  ‘You’re a man who suffers badly if he doe
sn’t get enough sleep. Look at the way you were after Netta’s party. One night without sleep and you collapsed into a crumpled heap. You’ll never take over the world like that.’

  ‘I guess I won’t. Dammit! What a pity you noticed.’

  ‘Never mind. I won’t tell anyone. I’ll just “pounce on it and use it to undermine you”.’

  With every step Minnie felt she was walking deeper into calm content. The battle was far away. She would fight him tomorrow.

  He steered her into a café where they could sit at a table on the pavement. The owner evidently recognised Minnie, for he held up a tall glass, raising his eyebrows in a question.

  ‘What’s that?’ Luke asked.

  ‘They do a delicious dish of strawberries, cream and ice cream. I used to eat it a lot before I moved to the Via Veneto and became pompous.’

  He ordered coffee for them both and a sundae for her.

  ‘Take this for your head,’ he said, offering her what he’d bought in the pharmacy.

  ‘Thanks. I’ll leave it for a moment. It may not get bad enough for me.’

  He watched with pleasure as she tucked into her sundae, thinking that it was like watching a child let out of school.

  ‘They all lean on you, don’t they?’ he said suddenly.

  ‘What?’

  ‘The night we met, you came out to defend Charlie, and he’s not the only one, is he? Rico let out a few interesting things while we were in the police station. You’re in and out of that place, hauling them out of the consequences of their own mistakes. Shoplifting, low level smuggling, selling hot goods in the market-’

  ‘It’s all minor stuff. They’re family.’

  ‘They not your family. They’ve just latched on to you and loaded you with all their problems.’

  ‘Why shouldn’t they? I’m the strong one. I like it.’

  ‘OK, you like it, but even the strong one needs a rest some times. Does anyone ever think of you?’

  ‘Yes, Netta. She’s been better than my own mother.’

  But, even as she said it, she knew what he meant. On the surface Netta was the matriarch of the family, but in fact it was herself, and it was a lonely position.

  She tried to remember the last time she’d walked through the streets of Trastevere like this, and she couldn’t. It passed across her mind that under other circumstances Luke would have made an ideal friend.

  Suddenly she realised that they were being watched. A young boy was standing on the edge of the circle of light, trying to attract their attention.

  Luke noticed him and smiled. ‘Hey there!’

  As the boy came forward Minnie saw that he was holding a puppy.

  ‘Is that-?’

  ‘That’s my friend,’ Luke said. ‘And his friend. So they’re OK. Good.’

  ‘I’m glad to see you well, signore,’ the boy said with formal politeness. ‘I wanted to thank you for helping us the other night.’

  ‘That’s all right,’ Luke assured him. ‘It all ended happily.’

  ‘But you were arrested-I know they must have fined you-and I have some pocket money-’

  ‘There’s no need for that,’ Luke said. ‘It’s all sorted, and nothing for you to worry about.’

  ‘You are sure?’

  ‘Completely sure,’ he said gently. ‘But perhaps you shouldn’t stay out so late another time.’

  Right on cue a window opened somewhere above them and a woman’s voice screeched, ‘Giacomo, come home at once.’

  ‘Yes, Mamma,’ he called back in a resigned voice. He thrust the puppy towards Luke. ‘He, too, would like to thank you.’

  Luke rubbed the animal’s head. There was another screech, and Giacomo hurried away.

  ‘Why are you looking at me like that?’ Luke asked.

  ‘I guess I really did misjudge you. If there’s one man in the world I wouldn’t have thought-’

  She was confused, less by discovering that there really had been a puppy, but by the kind way he’d spoken to the boy.

  ‘It comes from having younger brothers,’ he said, picking up her thought.

  ‘Are you a mind-reader?’ she asked in wonder.

  ‘Well, it’s easy with you, since I know where you’re coming from. I’m the devil and all his works, and anything that doesn’t fit that pattern takes you by surprise.’

  She began to laugh and choked slightly, waving a hand before her face as if to fend him off while she got over it. He took hold of her hand and held it until she’d finished coughing.

  ‘I suppose there’ll come a day when we’re not on opposing sides,’ he mused. ‘When that happens, there are things I’d like to discuss with you.’

  It was hard to know how to answer him since his eyes were on her hand, not her face. But he didn’t seem to expect an answer and, after holding her fingers between his for a moment, laid his cheek briefly against them and let them go. When she looked up he’d gone inside to pay the bill.

  They walked on slowly. The moon was rising, making lovers draw back into the shadows, as she and Gianni had once done, she remembered. But there was no ache tonight, only a sense of peace that was almost happiness.

  Even a group of lads kicking a football about down a side street couldn’t disturb her. When the ball accidentally came flying in her direction she kicked it back with a neat movement that made Luke look at her with new respect.

  ‘I can do more than stand up in a courtroom, you know,’ she said, and they laughed together.

  At last they came full circle to the Residenza and he saw her to her door.

  ‘Have those pills before you go to bed,’ he said.

  But she shook her head.

  ‘I don’t need them now. I haven’t had a headache for-I don’t know. It slipped away without my noticing.’

  ‘I’ll say goodnight then.’ He held her hand for a moment before turning away.

  Back in his own home, he called Hope at the villa. When they’d discussed inconsequential things for a few minutes he said, ‘I expect you see a lot of Olympia?’

  ‘She and Primo were here tonight.’

  ‘Next time, give her a message for me, would you?’

  ‘Caro, is that wise? She and Primo love each other so much-’

  ‘And I’m really glad they do. I wouldn’t spoil it for the world. Mamma you told me once that everyone you love changes you in some way. So tell Olympia-just tell her I said thank you.’

  Over the next few days the exchange took place. Luke had Teresa’s furniture moved down for her, then he set about moving some furniture into his own place. This caused much hilarity among his tenants, as various items were hauled up five floors of stairs too narrow for them. The men turned out to help, and enjoy a laugh and a beer. The rest of the tenants came out to line the stairs, cheering and applauding as each item reached another level without doing anyone an injury.

  After that it was Luke’s turn to give a house-warming party. It was colourful and noisy and it competed with other Residenza parties as one of the best there had ever been. Minnie was working late, but she slipped in at the last minute to share a glass of wine and see how happy Teresa was.

  ‘But I know you’ll miss this place,’ Minnie said, ‘because it was the home you shared with Antonio.’

  The old woman shook her head wisely. ‘My home with Antonio is in here,’ she said, pointing to her heart. ‘And it will always be there. Bricks and mortar are nothing. You must be ready for what life offers you next.’

  A stillness came over Minnie, and she had a strange sensation of hearing distant sounds from mysterious places, inaudible to anyone else but conveying a message to her. She turned away and saw Luke standing nearby. It disturbed her that he might have witnessed that eerie moment.

  ‘I’m sorry you couldn’t arrive sooner,’ he said.

  ‘I tried, but I brought you a house-warming present. Here.’

  It was a book about Trastevere, full of history and local colour. When he tried to thank her, she gave him a brief
smile and slipped hurriedly away, running down the stairs to her own home, desperate to be alone. She locked the front door behind her, and stood for a moment with her back against it, as though barring the world. Teresa’s words had got to her, and she could hear the distant music again.

  She poured herself a glass of wine, took the photograph of Gianni from the shelf and curled up on the sofa, watching his face, waiting for the moment when he would become real.

  She had done this many times before, and had devised a technique for making it happen. It was important to be patient. Trying to rush things would make it harder, so she let herself relax, holding the picture loosely in her lap, looking down on it with eyes that were vague and almost unfocused. Gradually the outlines of the room blurred, faded, retreated, leaving only him behind. And then he was there.

  ‘I don’t know what’s the matter with me.’ She sighed. ‘Everything’s in a muddle and I don’t understand.’

  He spoke in her mind. Is it him?

  ‘Partly. He’s playing a sort of game, but it’s not a game to them.’

  But if they benefit from it-?

  ‘Will they? There’s something going on here that I don’t understand.’

  Maybe it’s really very simple, and Netta’s right.

  ‘No,’ she said quickly.

  Carissima , why are you angry?

  ‘Because he’s taking them away from me.’ She sighed, facing the truth at last. ‘My family, my friends, the people who looked to me-now they look to him. Since I lost you, they’re all I have, and they’re all I want.’

  But suddenly there was silence. She waited for a long time, hoping for something more. But it was over.

  Carissima , why are you angry? How often in their squabbles had he said that to her, gently teasing? She was the one with the temper, he the relaxed, good-natured one who waited until the storm had blown itself out.

  Suddenly she felt very tired and lonely. She drew the picture up to her chest, folding her arms across it, hanging her head and thinking of Teresa, who could take Antonio with her wherever she went.

  All about her the building was growing silent, lights going out. A couple remained on the outside staircase, but after a while even they moved away, unseen by anyone except Luke, who was looking out of his window, watching for the moment the staircase would be empty.