reassured herself. Marriage was impossible, but they could stay together while they made the series—perhaps for a year. By then he would realise that she was too old for him, and things would come to a natural conclusion.
It was bliss to live with Carlo, to wake up with him, to be with him every moment and go to sleep in his arms, without having to wait for his arrival, bid him goodbye or worry about anyone else.
The only awkward note came one night when they dined at the villa. Luke and Primo had returned home, but Francesco was still there, also Ruggiero, who had brought Myra.
‘It was Mamma’s idea,’ he murmured to Della.
‘So I would have supposed,’ she murmured back, amused by Hope’s none-too-subtle way of reminding her that the trail led back from Myra to her grown son.
Not a word was said. Hope was too clever to press the point, and her manner to Della could not be faulted. She treated her as a guest of honour, and let it be known in a thousand little ways that if this was her darling son’s choice she was prepared to accept her.
Everyone except Myra was relieved when the evening was over. Della returned Hope’s implacable smile with one that she hoped was equally resolute, and sagged as soon as she got into the car.
‘Even I find them a bit overwhelming,’ Carlo said sympathetically.
They didn’t discuss the matter again until they were ready for bed, when she breathed out, saying, ‘Your mother doesn’t like me, and she’s never going to.’
‘It’s just a passing phase because she knows you’re the one and only. Nobody else has mattered like you. Wait until Sol finds his one and only.’ Carlo chuckled at the thought. ‘You’ll be exactly the same.’
‘Thank goodness he’s too young for that. The college has agreed to take him back, so I’m washing my hands of him.’
‘I’m glad to hear it. Or I would be if I believed it.’
Later she was to remember those remarks with irony. For now she was glad to let everything float away as she snuggled down in bed with him.
They made love sleepily, enjoying taking their time. The languorous pleasure seemed to hold her captive, making everything part of the same dream, a dream in which the world was simple.
‘Say yes,’ Carlo whispered. ‘Say you’ll marry me—it’s so easy.’
He was right. It was so easy. The word hovered on the tip of her tongue. In another moment it would be said and the decision made. So easy—
Her phone rang, breaking the spell.
‘If that’s Sol I’ll wring his neck,’ Carlo growled.
And it was Sol, sounding desperate.
‘Mum, is that you?’
‘Yes, it’s me. Sol, whatever is the matter?’
‘Gina just came to see me.’
‘Gina? Oh, yes—she was the one before Sally, wasn’t she? How is she?’
‘Mum, she’s pregnant.’
Della sat up in bed. ‘She’s what?’
‘She’s pregnant. She’s going to have a baby. She says it’s mine.’
‘Do you think it is?’
‘Well—yes, probably. We were very intense for a while, and I don’t think she’d have had much chance to—you know—’
‘I get the picture.’
‘Mum, what can I do? She says she wants to have it.’
‘Good for her.’
‘It’s not. It’s a disaster.’ His voice rose to a wail. ‘I’m gonna be a daddy.’
‘Sol, for heaven’s sake calm down.’
‘How can I calm down? It’s terrible.’
‘We’ll manage something.’
‘Will you come and talk some sense into her?’
‘Not the way you mean. I’ll come and offer her my help and support.’
‘Oh, yeah? So that she can make you a granny? Is that what you want?’
‘What does it matter what I—? What did you say?’
‘I said she’s going to make you a grandmother. Are you going to support her in that? Mum? Mum, are you still there?’
‘Yes,’ she said slowly. ‘I’m here. Sol, I’ll call you back.’
‘When are you coming home?’
‘Soon. Goodbye, darling. I can’t talk now.’
She hung up and sat there, not moving, sensing the world shift on its axis. Just a few words, yet nothing was the same. Nothing would ever be the same again.
She was going to be a grandmother.
‘What is it, cara?’ Carlo asked, startled by the sight of her face.
A grandmother.
‘Della, whatever’s the matter? What did Sol have to say?’
She remembered her own grandmother, a grey-haired elderly lady.
‘Cara, you’re scaring me. Tell me what’s happened.’
She was going to be a grandmother.
‘Della, for pity’s sake—are you laughing?’
‘Yes, I think I am,’ she gasped. ‘Oh, dear, I must have been mad. Well, I came down to earth in time.’ She was shaking with bitter laughter.
‘I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about.’ He tried to speak lightly, but there was a nameless dread growing inside him.
‘I’m not sure I really know myself,’ she said, forcing herself to quieten down before she was overtaken by hysterics. ‘I’ve been living in fantasy land—it’s been like a kind of madness, and I didn’t want it to end. But it had to. Now it has.’
She began to laugh again, a kind of gasping moan that drove him half wild.
‘Stop it,’ he said, seizing her shoulders and dropping down beside her. When she didn’t stop he gave her a little shake. ‘Stop that!’ he said, in a voice that sounded suddenly afraid.
‘It’s all right,’ she said, ceasing abruptly. ‘My head’s clear again now.’
‘For the love of heaven, will you tell me what’s happened? Is Sol in some sort of trouble?’
‘Yes.
