bell and one of the maids will deal with her request. I'll take her upstairs while you are eating your dessert. Are you ready, Deborah?'
She nodded, a little embarrassed to find herself the centre of even such a small domestic contretemps. She felt Domenico's strong fingers on her elbow as she shook hands with the Signora and then with Gianetta. She hoped she looked less nervous than she felt as she murmured a ' Buona notte' in response to their wish that she slept well after her tiring day.
'A put tardi,' Gianetta whispered in her ear, but her brother heard her.
'Not tonight you won't!' he growled at her. 'She'll still be here in the morning and you can gossip with her then. She won't want to listen to any more of your nonsense tonight!'
Deborah's eyes opened wide. 'On the contrary, I shall be pleased to see you, if I haven't fallen asleep.'
'I'll bring you a cup of coffee, shall I?' the Italian girl offered. 'I want to see your new dresses!'
'That'll be lovely.'
Deborah swept past Domenico and hurried through the door ahead of him, her head held high. If she could have remembered the way back to her bedroom, she would have told him to stay where he was, but the prospect of spending the next hour or so searching for the right wing of the palace made her hold her tongue.
'She won't let you escape,' Domenico said as they mounted the curved marble stairs to the next floor.
'How do you know?' she retorted. She noted with care the twists and turns he took to bring her to her own door, becoming suspicious when she could have sworn they had passed the same statue of the young Augustus for the second time. 'She will at least show me the way to the stairs without going round in circles!'
'Very acute!' he congratulated her. 'But you don't know what I have told her about you. I shall explain to her that it would be dangerous for you to go out alone in the streets of Rome. Goodnight, little one. Sleep well!'
'From now on I shall escape if I can!' she warned him.
'You may try! Goodnight, Deborah.'
Her eyes blurred with tears. She would have to try, but she didn't want to go. Ridiculous as it was, she wanted to stay within sight and sound of her captor.
'Goodnight,' she said.
Gianetta came with her coffee almost immediately.
'Domenico is like a cat on hot bricks,' she reported. 'He says your father is afraid you may be kidnapped while you're in Rome. It's happening all the time these day, but somehow one never thinks of it happening to someone one knows! Your father must be frightfully rich!'
'I've never thought about it,' Deborah admitted. 'I don't like feeling as though I'm Domenico's prisoner, though. Is there some way I could get out of the palace if I wanted to?'
'Only by unlocking the front door. The bolts are stiff with age, but you might manage it if you have strong fingers. Where would you go, though?'
Deborah smiled and sipped her coffee. 'I'd get a taxi and go to my friends.'
'You'd better ask Domenico to take you,' Gianetta decided for her. 'Do you like him?'
'I don't know him well enough to say,' Deborah said.
But Gianetta looked more than satisfied at her reaction. 'You'll hate Alessandra as much as we do when you meet her. Even Cesare, who never notices anything, says he'd like to wring her neck when she tells Domenico what he should be doing, and how he should behave to his mother and to me. I can't wait to see her face when she sees you!'
Deborah was less eager for the confrontation. 'Is Domenico really planning to marry her?'
'I wish I knew,' Gianetta sighed. 'But Domenico doesn't tell Mamma and me anything we want to know. Friends tell us they see him out with lots of women, but he wouldn't marry any of them—if you know what I mean? Alessandra is so horribly suitable!'
'And will that be enough for him?'
Gianetta looked surprised by the question. 'What more should he want? It isn't the men who suffer in that kind of marriage, it's the women. When I wanted to marry Cesare everyone tried to
She nodded, a little embarrassed to find herself the centre of even such a small domestic contretemps. She felt Domenico's strong fingers on her elbow as she shook hands with the Signora and then with Gianetta. She hoped she looked less nervous than she felt as she murmured a ' Buona notte' in response to their wish that she slept well after her tiring day.
'A put tardi,' Gianetta whispered in her ear, but her brother heard her.
'Not tonight you won't!' he growled at her. 'She'll still be here in the morning and you can gossip with her then. She won't want to listen to any more of your nonsense tonight!'
Deborah's eyes opened wide. 'On the contrary, I shall be pleased to see you, if I haven't fallen asleep.'
'I'll bring you a cup of coffee, shall I?' the Italian girl offered. 'I want to see your new dresses!'
'That'll be lovely.'
Deborah swept past Domenico and hurried through the door ahead of him, her head held high. If she could have remembered the way back to her bedroom, she would have told him to stay where he was, but the prospect of spending the next hour or so searching for the right wing of the palace made her hold her tongue.
'She won't let you escape,' Domenico said as they mounted the curved marble stairs to the next floor.
'How do you know?' she retorted. She noted with care the twists and turns he took to bring her to her own door, becoming suspicious when she could have sworn they had passed the same statue of the young Augustus for the second time. 'She will at least show me the way to the stairs without going round in circles!'
'Very acute!' he congratulated her. 'But you don't know what I have told her about you. I shall explain to her that it would be dangerous for you to go out alone in the streets of Rome. Goodnight, little one. Sleep well!'
'From now on I shall escape if I can!' she warned him.
'You may try! Goodnight, Deborah.'
Her eyes blurred with tears. She would have to try, but she didn't want to go. Ridiculous as it was, she wanted to stay within sight and sound of her captor.
'Goodnight,' she said.
Gianetta came with her coffee almost immediately.
'Domenico is like a cat on hot bricks,' she reported. 'He says your father is afraid you may be kidnapped while you're in Rome. It's happening all the time these day, but somehow one never thinks of it happening to someone one knows! Your father must be frightfully rich!'
'I've never thought about it,' Deborah admitted. 'I don't like feeling as though I'm Domenico's prisoner, though. Is there some way I could get out of the palace if I wanted to?'
'Only by unlocking the front door. The bolts are stiff with age, but you might manage it if you have strong fingers. Where would you go, though?'
Deborah smiled and sipped her coffee. 'I'd get a taxi and go to my friends.'
'You'd better ask Domenico to take you,' Gianetta decided for her. 'Do you like him?'
'I don't know him well enough to say,' Deborah said.
But Gianetta looked more than satisfied at her reaction. 'You'll hate Alessandra as much as we do when you meet her. Even Cesare, who never notices anything, says he'd like to wring her neck when she tells Domenico what he should be doing, and how he should behave to his mother and to me. I can't wait to see her face when she sees you!'
Deborah was less eager for the confrontation. 'Is Domenico really planning to marry her?'
'I wish I knew,' Gianetta sighed. 'But Domenico doesn't tell Mamma and me anything we want to know. Friends tell us they see him out with lots of women, but he wouldn't marry any of them—if you know what I mean? Alessandra is so horribly suitable!'
'And will that be enough for him?'
Gianetta looked surprised by the question. 'What more should he want? It isn't the men who suffer in that kind of marriage, it's the women. When I wanted to marry Cesare everyone tried to
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