The Italian Count's Defiant Bride

by Catherine George

  ‘Yes, darling. I finally made it; I’ve just collected my luggage. I couldn’t ring before because I left my phone behind. It was a horrible flight, and I was frightened, and I want you so much—’ To her deep mortification Alicia burst into tears.

  ‘Innamorata!’ he said frantically. ‘It is agony to hear you cry when I can do nothing to comfort you. But at least you are safe. I have been mad with worry.’

  ‘Sorry!’ She blew her nose on a tissue, and pulled herself together to listen.

  ‘You left your phone in our bathroom. So, now, call your mother subito, because she was very anxious when she rang me. Then find a taxi. If the weather is bad, offer the driver any money he wants.’

  ‘Bron rang you? Heavens! But tell me about Zia Luisa—I was afraid you might still be at the hospital.’

  Francesco explained briefly. ‘Now call your mother, amore; I will talk to you later.’

  When Alicia arrived in Cowbridge by taxi, after another unpleasant journey through sheeting rain, her reception from Bron was unusually emotional, and even laid-back George Hughes hugged her convulsively and poured her a glass of the Burgundy he kept for special occasions.

  ‘But first ring your husband,’ he said, eyes twinkling. ‘Bron says he’s in a bit of a lather.’

  ‘Sorry to add a call to Italy to your bill, George.’

  ‘Never mind that,’ said Bron impatiently. ‘Put Francesco’s mind at rest. Go into George’s den, darling. You can be private in there.’

  Alicia gave them both another hug, then raced to shut herself in George’s sanctuary. ‘Francesco?’ she said breathlessly, when he answered. ‘I’m here.’

  ‘Deo gratia!’ he exclaimed, his voice cracking in relief. ‘Are you better now, tesoro?’

  ‘As better as I can be without you. Sorry I was such a cry baby when I rang, Francesco.’

  ‘Since you cried because you needed me, do not be sorry, Alicia.’ He sighed thankfully. ‘Now I may even sleep a little tonight—though it will be very lonely in my bed, amore.’

  ‘Is Zia well enough for you to come and join me soon in mine, Francesco?’

  ‘I will wait for a day or two to make sure all is well with her, but already she is herself again now she is at home. Bianca is with her, and Pina and Giacomo are ready to do her slightest bidding, so I shall be with you as soon as I can. Now, rest well, carissima, and no more crying.’

  ‘Not a tear. But listen, Francesco.’

  ‘I am listening.’

  ‘When you ring back, I have a suggestion to make.’

  ‘Whatever you wish,’ he promised her. ‘Even if that wish is to keep your job a little longer.’

  ‘Nothing like that,’ she assured him. Quite the opposite. ‘I can’t keep George waiting for his dinner any longer, poor thing, so ring me back about ten tonight and I’ll tell you about the plan I was hatching while I waited at Pisa.’

  ‘I am impatient to hear it. But I will ring later as you ask. Ciao, amore.’

  During dinner Alicia told her not very surprised mother that she intended to go back to Francesco, and at long last, years after the event, gave them a watered-down version of the episode that had sent her running home before the ink was dry on her marriage lines.

  ‘Was that all?’ said Bron, astonished. ‘I imagined far worse.’

  ‘It was just my illusions he damaged,’ said Alicia ruefully, and smiled at George. ‘You didn’t know me then, but I was really wet behind the ears—the most clueless teenager on the planet.’

  ‘My fault for keeping you on such a tight rein,’ said her mother with remorse. ‘Though to be fair I sent you to the convent school because it had such a good academic reputation.’

  ‘And because you wanted your baby girl in safekeeping with the nuns,’ added George gently.

  ‘Well, yes. Because of what happened to me, I was too protective. I realise that now. I was afraid to let her out of my sight right from the start. If I hadn’t had Eira to help look after her I would never have gone back to college, let alone held down a job afterwards.’ Bron smiled wryly. ‘Can you imagine how I felt about letting Alicia go to Florence on holiday without me? And I was right. Look how that turned out!’

  ‘But if I hadn’t gone I wouldn’t have met Francesco,’ Alicia reminded her, and smiled at George. ‘Sorry to embarrass you, but I fell in love with him the moment I laid eyes on him. And now that we’re back together again it seems as though we’ve never been apart,’ she added, and shivered suddenly.

  ‘What’s the matter?’ demanded her mother.

  ‘There was so much turbulence on the flight, I was afraid the plane would crash.’ She gave her listeners a wry smile. ‘It taught me a lesson—life is too short to waste a minute of it. So when I talk to Francesco later I’ll tell him about my change of plan.’

  When the telephone rang a minute or two short of ten, Alicia excused herself to answer it, in too much of a rush to notice the indulgent smiles that followed her as she shot from the room.

  ‘Francesco?’ she said breathlessly.

  ‘Davverro. I hope you were not expecting someone else?’

  ‘No. Only you, Francesco. Always.’

  He sighed with satisfaction. ‘It gives me great pleasure to hear you say this, innamorata.’

  ‘I thought it might. Though it’s true. How is Zia Luisa?’

  ‘She is back to normal. Poor Bianca is trying to follow the doctor’s orders, but Zia is already making life difficult for her about drinking less wine.’

  ‘Oh, poor Zia.’ Alicia took in a deep breath. ‘Listen, Francesco, I have a plan.’

  ‘It is strange that you should say that, tesoro, because I also have a plan. But yours first.’

  ‘I must work my two weeks’ notice, but I don’t want to work a second longer than that after all.’

  ‘I agree completely, cara,’ he assured her. ‘And now here is my plan, sposa mia—I will spend tomorrow arranging everything here so that I can stay with you until you finish your job and are ready to come home to Montedaluca with me. You like my plan?’

  Her face lit up like a Christmas tree. ‘I adore your plan, Francesco. I just wish you were here right now so I could show you how much!’

  ‘You can show me when I arrive. I shall look forward to this very much.’ His voice deepened. ‘I went through hell today, Alicia, until I knew you were safe.’

  ‘I wasn’t very happy myself,’ she said unsteadily, and broke off to blow her nose.

  ‘Which is why I’m against wasting any more time apart. Let me know which plane you’re taking and I’ll come to meet you at the airport. Would you mind coming here to Bron’s for a meal before we go to the flat?’

  ‘I shall be most happy to meet your mother again, also to make your stepfather’s acquaintance. But I shall be happiest of all just to be with you again.’

  One glimpse of her husband’s glossy black curls among the disembarking passengers at Cardiff international airport had Alicia thrusting her way through the crowd like a rugby forward hell-bent on touching the ball down for a try. His eyes lit up, and he dropped his suitcase to sweep her into his arms, swinging her round in jubilation for a moment before he set her on her feet to kiss her.

  ‘Hi,’ said Alicia, when she could speak.

  ‘Amore,’ he breathed, and kissed her again. He retrieved his suitcase, keeping his free arm firmly around her as they made for the exit. ‘We need a taxi?’

  ‘No. I drove.’ She smiled up at him. ‘First we have lunch with Bron and George, then I drive you to my place. Tomorrow evening we’re having dinner with Megan and Rhys, but tonight it’s just you and me.’

  ‘Perfetto,’ he assured her, his eyes devouring her as they made for the car. ‘You look so young today, Alicia; like the teenager I lost my heart to in Firenze.’

  Since her aim in wearing jeans and a T-shirt with her hair in a loose braid had been exactly that, she smiled radiantly. ‘I thought you’d be pleased.’

  The lunch with Bron and
George was a great success. The two men took to each other on sight, and Bron’s welcome to her son-in-law was so much warmer than their previous encounters he gently teased her about it over the meal.

  ‘You are not angry because I take your daughter away from you again?’ he asked later.

  Bron shook her head. ‘No, Francesco, because that’s very obviously what her heart desires.’

  He gave Alicia a look that brought a tear to her mother’s eye. ‘It is what my heart desires also. And this time,’ he added very seriously, ‘I will take great care to make her happy, Bronwen.’

  They lingered over coffee afterwards until at last George took pity on Francesco and suggested the pair resume their journey.

  ‘We can talk longer next time, but you’d better be on your way now to beat rush hour into Cardiff,’ he added, with a look at his wife.

  ‘Good thinking, darling,’ she said promptly, and hugged her daughter, and then Francesco, as they said their goodbyes.

  ‘I probably won’t drive fast enough for you,’ Alicia told Francesco once they were on their way.

  ‘Now we are alone together, I am in no hurry,’ he said, sitting back, relaxed. ‘It is good just to sit here in your little car and enjoy being together again after so long.’

  ‘It was only three days, Francesco,’ she said, smiling.

  ‘It felt like three years. Let us have no more partings. We have wasted too much time already, carina.’

  On the way up in the lift to her apartment, Francesco gave Alicia a wry smile.

  ‘What are you thinking?’ she asked.

  ‘I was remembering the first time we did this, carina. You were very tense.’

  ‘It was your smell.’

  ‘Cosa?’ he demanded, appalled.

  ‘You still use the same cologne, or whatever. It brought everything back so vividly, I could hardly breathe,’ she confessed as the lift door opened, and smiled at him. ‘This time it will be different.’

  It was. The moment they were inside the flat Francesco dumped the suitcase and swept her up in his arms to make for the bedroom she’d cleaned and polished the day before in anticipation of just this moment.

  ‘It is time for a siesta,’ he said unevenly as he laid her on the bed.

  ‘Yes please,’ she said, with such fervour he laughed joyously as he began to undress her.

  Within seconds they were naked in each other’s arms, so on fire for each other that with no preliminaries of any kind they were caught up in the heat and joy of a union made all the more passionate by their brief, but nerve-wracking parting. Francesco told his wife over and over again in two languages how much he loved her.

  ‘We must never be parted again,’ he said huskily at last, holding her close. ‘Tell me you feel this also, Alicia.’

  ‘Of course I do!’ She turned her face up to kiss him. ‘Ti amo, Francesco.’

  A fortnight later, after a round of farewell parties, the final, most important celebration of all was held in Blake Street. Eira Davies had begged the privilege of hosting it in the house where Alicia had grown up. And Bron was happy to agree.

  ‘You’re a much better cook than I am, Eira, anyway,’ she told her friend affectionately. ‘Only don’t exhaust yourself. It’s just the family.’

  ‘She’ll have me peeling and chopping for hours,’ said Huw gloomily, and grinned at George. ‘Fancy lending a hand?’

  ‘I can help also,’ offered Francesco, and instead of refusing politely, as Alicia had expected, Eira promptly co-opted him into the all-important business of organising the wine.

  ‘But choosing only, mind, no paying,’ warned Eira, patting Alicia’s hand. ‘We’re only too glad to do this for our girl.’

  ‘You are most kind.’ Francesco acquiesced gracefully. ‘So first we celebrate our reunion here, then soon you must all come back to Montedaluca to stay at the castello for another celebration.’

  But, unlike the cosy, comfortable family party in Cardiff, the celebration Francesco had planned in Montedaluca promised to be the event of the year. The town was agog with the news that il conte had organised a special charity match at the rugby club he had helped develop to such a standard it now competed in a minor Italian league. The proceeds from ticket sales would provide new equipment for the children’s wing of the town’s hospital, and the count himself would be playing in a team of veterans composed of friends from his rugby-playing days, and also friends and relatives of the countess. And after the game there was to be a party with a display of fireworks, after a supper provided by Mario Ponti, whose son Guido played in the star position of outside half.

  ‘Amazing place you have here, Francesco,’ said David Rees-Jones as Giacomo served drinks on the castello terrace the night before the match.

  ‘It is home,’ said Francesco simply, his eyes on Alicia, who was laughing with Megan at the sallies of Gareth’s teammates. ‘Scusi, David. I think I must rescue my wife.’

  ‘Don’t worry, mate, she’s used to fending off rugby players.’

  ‘I know all about rugby players,’ said Francesco darkly, and grinned. ‘I was one myself.’

  ‘And you’d better live up to your reputation tomorrow,’ warned David. ‘I’ve been training like a madman since I was idiot enough to say yes to your wife about this.’

  ‘Alicia is very persuasive,’ agreed Francesco, smiling at her across the terrace.

  ‘Clever girl all round. We miss her back home—she was great at her job.’ With regret David, refused another drink. ‘Better keep a clear head. I just hope I’ll be in one piece this time tomorrow!’

  ‘Of course you will, amico. Come and talk to my great-aunt. Zia Luisa thinks you’re very handsome.’

  David preened. ‘Does she, indeed? She’s pretty handsome herself. I bet she was an absolute corker when she was a girl.’

  Francesco repeated this to Luisa, who was enjoying herself enormously, with Bronwen on one side and Eira on the other. She gave David a flirtatious smile as he bowed low before them.

  ‘The Three Graces themselves,’ he said reverently. ‘Will you be at the match tomorrow, ladies?’

  ‘Wouldn’t miss it,’ Bron assured him, and smiled at Francesco. ‘Eira here can cheer on Gareth, while Luisa and I support my son-in-law.’

  ‘I shall do my best for you, Bronwen,’ he assured her. ‘I shall leave you ladies with my good friend here, but now I must help Gareth defend Megan and my wife from their admirers!’

  ‘They might not want to be defended,’ said Eira sweetly, and grinned naughtily as Francesco scowled.

  ‘Let your wife be, Francesco,’ said Luisa placidly, and smiled indulgently at the other women. ‘He does not like to let her out of his sight.’

  Francesco nodded, unruffled. ‘Do you blame me? Ah, Giacomo is having a word with Alicia. I think dinner is about to arrive. It is served early tonight, to make sure all the veterans get to bed early in preparation for tomorrow.’

  The following day it was plain from the start that the veteran team was taking the match very seriously indeed. Francesco had seated his family and guests in a special box looking down on the halfway touchline, and from the moment the capacity crowd roared as he jogged onto the field with his team of veterans Alicia felt the same electricity in the air she’d experienced at the match in Cardiff, where they had been reunited.

  ‘Francesco’s in very good shape,’ commented George. ‘Gareth too.’

  ‘Gareth plays regularly, mind, so he should be,’ said Huw, eyeing the youthful home team as they came running onto the pitch. ‘These lads are a bit lighter than the veterans, but they’ll be faster to make up for it.’

  Alicia tried to relax, to enjoy the sunshine and the idyllic setting of the small rugby ground, packed today for the occasion. But secretly she was praying that Francesco would not only do well in front of his home crowd for his sake, but manage to avoid any injuries to his person while he was doing it for her own.

  ‘Relax,’ murmured Megan, alongside her. ‘Your
husband looks pretty fit to me.’

  Alicia smiled ruefully. ‘He trains regularly with the team. Such a pity Rhys couldn’t come, Meg. He’d have loved this.’

  ‘I know. But holiday time has left his department short-staffed, so he had to stay behind, poor love.’

  ‘You do realise,’ muttered Bron, ‘That this is the first rugby match I’ve ever watched?’

  ‘You’ll enjoy it,’ her daughter assured her, and grinned. ‘And there’ll be champagne and gorgeous food at the party afterwards.’

  ‘Why else do you think I came?’

  It soon became clear that experience was as valuable an asset in a rugby player as youth, when the old hands began demonstrating their skills. Francesco had delighted Alicia by asking Gareth to captain the team from his position at No. 8, in a pack which contained two of his teammates from his rugby club as flankers. David Rees-Jones was playing in the centre as one of a pair with one of Gareth’s friends, and the rest of the team was made up of Francesco’s former club friends, including the vital half-back pairing.

  ‘Francesco says that Enzo Manetti, the outside half, used to be a miraculous place kicker,’ said George, on his feet with Huw as Enzo took a long pass from his scrum half and sent it out to David, who was promptly brought down by three of the opposing team.

  ‘Oops,’ muttered Alicia, then heaved a sigh of relief as David jumped up and play resumed.

  It was a fast and furious game, so fast that at half time, when the scores were even, some of the veterans were very obviously glad of a breather. Francesco grinned up at Alicia as the teams ran back out to resume play, and she waved back, flushing slightly as she caught Huw’s eye.