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Classic Love: 7 Vintage Romances

Page 80

by Dorothy Fletcher


  I don’t feel anything more for my new family than I did when I met them. But I deeply love Gianni, my husband. Peter said to me, “Barbara, this isn’t your world. Won’t you come home? With me?”

  I thought it over carefully, very carefully. Peter was like someone I had known all my life, the boys I had gone to proms with, had dated, had thought I would marry. But I guess I inherit a trait of my great-aunt’s, the late Contessa. I have a rage to live. To see different things, to move onward and outward, to discard the familiar and the safe. So I said no to Peter and yes to Gianni. One day, when my dotty father-in-law dies, I will be a Principessa, but it doesn’t mean anything; only vulgarians use titles. I will live my life a simple woman, Signora Monteverdi. My concern is Gianni, the child I will bring to life before next summer, and the integrity of our lives, just the three of us.

  But I love the villa! Oh, how I love it … every branch and bush has meaning for me, every blade of grass. The late Contessa loved it so much that she never went back to the land of her birth. I’ve made a trip, to see my parents, but Mercedes never even touched foot on her native soil again. She loved Italy with a passion, adored Florence and the villa just up the hill, with all her heart and soul. And she was fond of its one-time owners, the Monteverdis. She thought they were wonderful people.

  And some of them are.

  But like the rest of humanity, some of them aren’t.

  Her will, written in Italian — because in her heart of hearts Mercedes had become Italian — was shown to me by the signores Predelli and Pineider. It was like a poem. I have never forgotten those words from a woman I never saw, never smiled at, never touched. But who, God knows, changed the entire course of my life.

  This was her dictum, transcribed only a year before her death:

  A quell’ antico lignaggio di nobile i Monteverdi di Firenze, trasmetto il loro diritto di primogenitura … affinché possano amare la loro come io l’ho amata, e che possano sopra vivere per altri mille anni …

  “Could you translate for me?” I asked signore Predelli, and, nodding, he did as I asked. “It reads, in English, like this,” he said, and I listened, wishing I could have heard the sound of my aunt’s voice reading it And knowing that it was a forlorn longing. But I love the words she had said, and I will never, ever forget them.

  To that long line of noble Italians, the Monteverdis of Florence, I bequeath their lost birthright. May they love their land as I have loved it. May they endure for another thousand years.

  I like to think that Mercedes knows I live there now. That it would please her. And that she is aware that a girl from America breathes the soft Florentine air, loves it passionately, and breeds children, as she could not, who will “love the land” as she loved it, and whose progeny, carrying on the Monteverdi line, might endure for another thousand years.

  This edition published by

  Crimson Romance

  an imprint of F+W Media, Inc.

  10151 Carver Road, Suite 200

  Blue Ash, Ohio 45242

  www.crimsonromance.com

  Copyright © 1971 by Dorothy Fletcher

  ISBN 10: 1-4405-7200-3

  ISBN 13: 978-1-4405-7200-5

  eISBN 10: 1-4405-7199-6

  eISBN 13: 978-1-4405-7199-2

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, corporations, institutions, organizations, events, or locales in this novel are either the product of the author's imagination or, if real, used fictitiously. The resemblance of any character to actual persons (living or dead) is entirely coincidental.

  Cover art © 123rf; istockphoto.com/skynesher

  The Brand Inheritance

  Dorothy Fletcher

  Avon, Massachusetts

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  CHAPTER ONE

  The plane landed at Kennedy Airport at eight o’clock in the evening, daylight saving time. The stream of passengers, disgorged from the belly of the ship, trudged across the sun-lit field, tired but starry-eyed, and straggled into the TWA arrivals center. There was a scramble for luggage carts, a bedlam of voices. Up above, waving through glass windows, were people waiting to welcome vacationing friends and relatives. But not for me, Margo thought as she lined up at Customs.

  “Anything to declare?”

  Bags zipped open, the line moving slowly, inexorably. “Is this a new coat?” No air conditioning, and for a June evening it was warm and humid. “Does it have to take all night?” someone muttered, wiping his forehead with a wilted handkerchief. “Move ahead, please,” a Customs official said crisply.

  The tall girl with the wheat-colored hair made a move to lift one of her suitcases to the counter. “That’s top heavy for you,” the man behind her said. “Let me give you an assist.”

  “How kind of you,” she said, perspiring.

  “Not at all.”

  He hefted her three suitcases to the counter. “You don’t travel light,” he remarked, smiling.

  “I’ve been living abroad. Thanks, I know they’re like lead.”

  “Will you share my cab back to town?”

  “Thanks very much,” she said, surveying him. Fiftyish, a good, honest face, nothing to worry about. “I’d be delighted,” she said gratefully.

  “Good girl. I live in the East Fifties. I can drop you wherever.”

  “Perfect,” she said.

  “Whereabouts are you going?”

  “I don’t know, I don’t live anywhere,” she said, and saw his startled eyes. At the Inspector’s request, she opened her first suitcase. The man, out of long experience, searched through it, scarcely disturbing the contents. He closed the grip, put a chalk mark on it, and started on the second, his fingers deft. In due time that too was zipped up. Then the third, which was books and letters and photography equipment. “Is this a new camera?” the Customs Inspector asked.

  “No, it’s not new at all; as I said, I’ve nothing to declare.”

  “How long was your visit?”

  “Thirteen years.”

  His head shot up. “You’re an American citizen?”

  “Yes I am.”

  He gave her a quick, appraising look, then smiled pleasantly and said, “Welcome back, Miss.”

  “Thanks very much,” she said, and the man behind her spoke imperatively. “Just wait outside the gate,” he said. “I won’t be long.”

  “It’s very good of you.”

  “No bother at all.”

  She stood there waiting, and shortly he joined her. “I’ll just get a cab,” he said, and was back in no time at all. “Here we go.” The black porter slung the bags on a cart, eeled his way past the throngs. The cool, shadowy evening was very lovely, though somehow perplexing. She was accustomed to French, Italian, Spanish airports; there was a difference here, a hard, pitiless quality. But this was home! After many a wandering, like Ulysses, she had returned, and she looked out the wndow of the cab, saw clustering groups embracing and gesturing. “Where to?” the driver asked.

  “Manhattan,” the man said. “When we get there I’ll tell you the address.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  He leaned back and took a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, shook one out for her. “Thanks,” she said, and he lit it with a Dunhill lighter. “Where am I taking you?” he asked.

  “Oh, I suppose the St. Regis or the Plaza. What do you think?”

  “Either. Of course I have a soft spot in my heart for the Plaza, but it’s up to you. I heard you tell the Customs man you’d been away for thirteen years. Where?”

&nbs
p; “At school, in Switzerland. When I left there I went to Paris, studied there too. Now I’ve come back to where I started. A job. Some free-lance work. Whatever I can find. A place to live.”

  She saw his eyes travel over her clothing, her well-cared-for person, and lifted a hand. “I’m twenty-one,” she said. “It’s time for me to make my own way. Life doesn’t owe anyone a living.”

  “I see,” he said, and she liked the look she saw on his face, a look of respect. “I have good training,” she explained. “Now it’s time for me to put it to use. But enough about me. Was your trip business or pleasure?”

  “Business,” he said. “I’m in import-export, I travel frequently. Sometimes my family goes with me, this time they didn’t. I have a daughter your age, and a son who’s married. I’m, in fact, a grandfather. I’m not sure I like being one. I suppose none of us likes to get old.”

  “You’re not old at all.”

  “Thanks for the compliment; I’ll treasure it.”

  They approached the bridge. “Have you decided where to stay?” the man asked.

  “The Plaza. You said you had a soft spot for it, so the Plaza, then. You see, I’m a bit bewildered. I didn’t think I’d feel so … so lost. But I do.” She turned away and looked out the window, at the drab industrial buildings of Queens. “There were all those people at the airport,” she said. “Arms stretched out, and glad faces. Coming home and being met with tears and laughter and flowers. It made me — ”

  “I can understand,” he said.

  “You seem to understand,” she said steadily. “And I’ll never forget you, or how you came to my aid. I can’t thank you enough.”

  “The pleasure’s mine,” he said, warmly. “My name’s Nelson Crawford, and I’d like very much to know yours.”

  “I’m Margo Brand.”

  They headed west, and the city lights were winking now. Tall buildings, taller than Margo remembered, looming against the evening sky. Glass and steel, intimidating. Wonderingly, she said, “It looks so different. I didn’t remember it like this.”

  “It is different,” Mr. Crawford said gravely. “It’s different every year, every month.”

  “I’ll have to get used to it.”

  “I’m not used to it. It’s grown beyond me. Left me behind, if you will.” They came to Park Avenue and she peered out the window, looking south. “What’s that?” she asked, pointing.

  “The Pan Am Building. An eyesore? Only one of many. I’ll retire one of these days, go to Mallorca or some such place. I’ll be happy to shake the dust of this misbegotten city off my — ” He apologized a moment later. “Excuse me,” he said contritely. “Don’t let me discourage you. It’s your city now, you young people. I’m sorry to have sounded off. Well, my dear, here we are.”

  They came to the lovely square just off 59th Street, facing the well-lit and hospitable hotel. Mr. Crawford leaned forward. “We’ll get out here,” he said, and fished in his wallet for a bill. “There you are,” he said, “don’t bother about the change, keep it.”

  “Thank you, sir,” the cab driver said.

  A porter dashed out of the hotel, dragging the suitcases from the trunk of the cab. A party of people dressed for an evening abroad came down the steps, headed for the parked taxi. “Hey, there …”

  The lobby was pleasant and spacious. Mr. Crawford, at the desk, said the young lady wished a room with bath.

  “For how long a stay?” the desk clerk asked.

  “Indefinitely,” Margo said.

  He consulted a room schedule. “I could give you a single with bath on the fourteenth floor. Twenty-seven dollars a day.”

  “Nothing less expensive?” Mr. Crawford asked.

  “It’s all right,” Margo said.

  “You’re sure?”

  “Yes, it’s fine.” She got out her traveler’s checks and paid a week’s rent in advance.

  “Call if you need help,” Mr. Crawford said.

  “Oh no, everything’s fine. My parents are very well-to-do. I’m only twenty-one, they’re still responsible for me. It’s my pride, you understand. I’m eager to be on my own. Meanwhile I have to accept their largesse.”

  “Where are your parents?” Mr. Crawford asked.

  “In the East, doing research,” she said. “I haven’t seen them for ten years.”

  “For ten years?” he repeated, looking hard at her.

  “Except for a day here and a day there. They’re a well-known team of writers. You see, Mr. Crawford, I was an accident. They never wanted to have a child. They didn’t need a child. I was only an embarrassment to them. I accepted that long ago. I’m sure you’re in a hurry to get home to your family, Mr. Crawford, but before you go may I buy you a drink? I’d rather give you emeralds, but I’m afraid all the jewelry stores are closed. I wouldn’t take up much of your time, but it would give me pleasure to … to buy you a drink.”

  “No no, I’ll buy you a drink,” he said, touched to the quick. “It isn’t often I’m in the company of such a pretty girl.” And over her protests he marched her back to one of the small salons and ordered champagne cocktails. “Unless you’d rather have something else?” he asked her.

  “No no … but I do want to be host, Mr. Crawford.”

  He smiled, patted her hand, and was so deft at drawing her out that she told him a great deal about herself. “My parents? They’re achievers, they travel all over the globe. I’m sorry I said that about my being an accident, it sounded cheap and cruel. I don’t blame them one bit, they’re so busy, and so famous.”

  She looked up. “And very, very much in love with each other.”

  And with themselves, Mr. Crawford thought, unable to imagine casting off his own daughter like some second-hand bit of goods. He looked across at the lovely, fresh face of the girl opposite him and thought, This child was given everything … and nothing.

  “Actually, I had a very happy childhood,” she said, as if she sensed his unspoken criticisms. “I spent many, many summers with a wonderful woman, and I must call her, now I’m back.”

  “Who’s that?” Mr. Crawford asked.

  “My aunt. Godmother and aunt. Victoria Brand. If anyone cares about me, she does.”

  “Tell me about her,” he prompted. “Where does she live?”

  “In a small country town, upstate, very pretty, you know, the hinterlands. All sorts of things going on up there, hexes and feuds and inbreeding and, like Salem, once witches were burned at the stake. I like it, have always liked it, because it makes me think of the beginnings of this country, and it’s changed so little. I spent my summers there when I was a kid, and my Aunt Vicky practically brought me up. Her house is very historic, a landmark in the region; people come from all over to see it. It was wonderful for me as a child, I felt a part of history.”

  “I’m sure your aunt can’t wait to hear from you.”

  “She doesn’t expect me back until autumn. She’ll be very astonished. I hope she won’t have a heart attack when she hears my voice.”

  “Why a heart attack?”

  “She’s not young any more. Well, actually, she’s my great-aunt. She’s in her … I guess eighties by now.”

  “Rather than a heart attack, she’ll undoubtedly start polishing the family silver,” Mr. Crawford said with a broad smile. “That’s what these landowners do for the returned prodigal, isn’t it? And dust cobwebs off vintage wines …”

  He was rewarded with a tinkling laugh. “I suppose,” she said, chuckling. “She’ll order everyone about and stalk through the house seeing that the antimicassars are in place, the old dear. I wish I had everything settled, so I could dash right up and be cosseted. But I must see to living quarters, and about a job … oh, no thanks, not another drink, this was lovely. And won’t you let me treat? I have no other way to thank you for your kindness … for …”

  She broke off. There was the sheen of tears behind the bewitching eyes. Then after a short silence she said composedly, “For welcoming me home. As if
I had conjured you up out of a bottle, a genie, a hand in mine, just when I needed it.”

  He was very much moved. Passing this beautiful girl on the street anyone would think, Lucky creature, with everything going for her …

  “You’ll be all right?” he asked, back in the lobby again.

  “Just fine. You took the sting out of … well, out of — ”

  In a kind of insane moment, like some Latin gigolo, he picked up her hand and kissed it. Feeling a little foolish, a little dotty. And then he went out and hailed a taxi, rather set-up and jaunty. It was a small adventure.

  A man my age doesn’t have many small adventures, he told himself, directing the driver to his Upper East Side address.

  And oh, she had such fathomless eyes …

  I should have given her my telephone number, he thought, starting to worry. All alone, a stranger in this complex city …

  Yet an inner voice told him that the tall girl with the wheat-colored hair would make it on her own. That there was a kind of steely strength underneath that soft, feminine exterior. And, peeling off some bills to pay the cab driver, he climbed out and let himself into the lighted brownstone.

  “Margaret?” he called. “Margaret. I’m home. I’m home, dear.”

  • • •

  Her room was pleasant, lamp-lit, the bed turned down. She opened her overnight case, took out the necessary items, smoked a cigarette and then prepared for the night. A bath, her teeth brushed, and into a gauzy nightgown. She turned off the light, but the room was not really dark, the lights of Manhattan winking, blinking. She turned over, away from the window, facing the wall.

  It was an old hotel, solidly built, but still there were sounds in the corridor, a buzz of voices, doors opening and closing. I’m too tired to sleep, she thought, but then she slept, and it was the gold of the new day that woke her. Disoriented, she had a moment of panic. Where was she?

 

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