‘Jane,bentornata. You’re back!’ It was a lovely mixture of the two languages and it brought a broad smile to Jane’s face.
She jumped to her feet, caught hold of the little girl’s arms and swung her around in a big circle before setting her down and hugging her. It really was good to see her again.
‘Ciao, bella. I hope you’ve been good while I was away because I’ve brought you a present from England.’ She had a thought. ‘You’ve been to England, haven’t you?’
‘I’ve been lots of times. I’ve been to London, to Cambridge…’ – she paused for thought – ‘…to Paris.’
Ignoring her little guest’s haziness as far as geographical matters were concerned, Jane went over to the worktop and produced the package she had bought in Bath the day before. The other package, containing clotted cream, strawberry jam and scones for Veronica, was safely in the fridge. Hopefully a Devonshire cream tea bought in Somerset would come as a pleasant surprise to her employer.
‘Here, this is for you.’
The little girl took the package from her and tore the paper off eagerly to reveal a Paddington Bear bag with three English story books inside. Jane watched Linda flicking through them and went on to explain. ‘I thought you might find the bag useful for carrying all your bits and pieces around.’ Linda had a habit of leaving her possessions – from sunglasses to crayons – lying all over the estate and many of them ended up being chewed to pieces by the Labrador. ‘You can even put Teddy in there if you like, and the books are for you to read with your mummy or your Auntie Diana or with me.’
Linda came over and gave Jane a big hug, thanking her most politely. The dog, not to be outdone, followed her and stood up on his back legs, pawing both of them while his tail wagged furiously.
At ten o’clock they went over to the villa where Linda went off to ‘help’ Maria in the kitchen while Jane had her regular morning session with her boss – now brought forward from its original midday time slot as Veronica’s sleep pattern improved – and she gave her the food parcel from the UK, which was gratefully received.
‘Jane, how lovely of you. Clotted cream’s one thing we never find over here. Mind you, it’s probably just as well, or I’d have blocked arteries by now if it were available. I love the stuff. Diana’s still in bed but we must have mid-morning cream tea when she wakes up.’ She indicated a chair alongside her. ‘Sit down and tell me how it went. I hope the bride didn’t attack you with an axe after all.’ She almost giggled and Jane couldn’t miss just how much brighter she was looking and sounding these days.
‘It was a lovely wedding.’ Jane went on to tell her all about the old tithe barn, the little village, the pub, and the compliments she had received on her appearance in the Audrey Hepburn dress. For now, she made no mention of the fact that she had met and talked to Taffy, or of what she had learned from him about David. At the end of her account, she decided to mention him as casually as she could. ‘I met a load of old army colleagues and some of them knew David and asked me to say hi to him. I’ll go over and see him later to tell him.’
Veronica looked up and shook her head. ‘I’m afraid you’ve missed him. There was a call from the hospital yesterday. They want him there this afternoon for a series of tests and the operation’s going to be tomorrow. He left an hour ago. Alvise has given him a lift down to Venice. He said there’s stuff he has to do first – like having a shave and a haircut for example. That’s good news, isn’t it?’ She was putting a brave face on it but Jane could see she was worried for her son.
Of course, Jane now knew why he would have to have at least a shave, if not a full haircut, before the surgeons could work on him but, for the moment, she made no comment. Instead, she did her best to reassure Veronica that he was in good hands, although the disappointment that she wasn’t going to be able to see him and talk to him for some days was intense. ‘I’m sure it’ll all go well. He told me the hospital’s very good. How long is he likely to be kept in?’
‘He didn’t know for sure. Hopefully only a day or two. He’s hoping he’ll be out well before the end of the week.’
‘That sounds good. Not least as there’s an email just arrived for you this morning saying that the Hollywood film people want to meet you on Friday. Apparently the Venice film festival starts this weekend. Hopefully David will feel up to keeping you company.’ Although she had a feeling that he was unlikely to put in a public appearance with fresh scars on his face and without his hairy camouflage.
Veronica looked up in consternation. ‘Friday? I hadn’t realised it would be so soon.’ A look of anxiety swept over her, and Jane leapt in to provide more reassurance.
‘It’ll be fine. They ask if they can meet up with you in the morning. I was thinking – why don’t you invite them to the palazzo? It’s a wonderful environment and it’ll feel more comfortable to you if you’re on your own turf.’
Veronica looked slightly reassured by the suggestion. ‘That’s a good idea. Even if David can’t make it, Diana’s going to be around and, of course, you’ll be here. I’ll phone Beatrice to see if she can come up as well.’
‘I already texted her and she said she’ll definitely be here. She says she’ll try to come up on Thursday night and then she’ll take Linda back to Rome on Monday as school will be starting soon.’ She checked her iPad. ‘I told your agent, too, and she says she’ll be flying in on Thursday afternoon. I’ll get Alvise to pick her up from the airport and I’ll ask Maria to get a guestroom ready for her.’
‘Thank you so much, Jane. I don’t know what I’d do without you.’
‘I was wondering if it might be a good idea to offer to run the Hollywood folk across to Marcello’s restaurant in Burano for lunch on Friday after the meeting. They’re visitors to Venice so we might as well give them a bit of a tour.’
‘That’s a wonderful idea. Will you set that up?’
‘Of course. Now, coming back to David, what about visiting him in hospital? I’d really like to see him. If it’s all right with you, maybe we could take it in turns?’ This would give her the chance to see him alone and Jane knew this was something she needed to do.
Veronica nodded. ‘Of course, that’s a good idea. Can you check to see what visiting hours are, please? From what they told him he’ll be having tests and so on today, so maybe I’ll just call him tonight. Hopefully the operation’s still on for tomorrow morning, and then once he’s had it, we can take it in turns like you say, depending on what he and the medics tell us. In the meantime, we really need to start thinking about moving back down to Venice so as to be near him and to get ready for the film people. What day is it today… Monday? God, that gives us so little time. I’ll talk to Maria and see what she says, but I’d like us to move back tomorrow if possible or Wednesday at the latest so we can get ready. I’ll go and see her now.’
Later that morning Jane was back in her kitchen, checking to see how many people there would be in the Hollywood party so she could book Marcello’s restaurant for Friday lunch, when there was a tap at the door. She was surprised to see that it was Signora Flora, today wearing a remarkably stylish pair of yoga pants and a Christian Dior T-shirt accompanied as always by her leopard-print ballerinas. Jane gave her a welcoming smile.
‘Hello, good morning. How nice to see you.’ And unexpected. This was the first time Flora had visited Jane in the summer house.
‘Ciao, Jane, I was wondering how the wedding went? Was it nice to be back in England?’
Jane invited her in and told her about her weekend – but without mentioning what Taffy had told her – while she made coffee for them both. After Flora had oohed and aahed over the old barn and the picture-postcard village, she brought up a subject much nearer to home that sent a rush of colour to Jane’s cheeks.
‘Feel like telling me how it went with David last Friday night?’ Seeing Jane’s discomfiture, she extended a hand and patted her arm. ‘Sorry for being nosey, but the thing is, I’m convinced the two of you are made for each other.’
Jane took a gulp of boiling hot coffee and very nearly had to spit it out again. Nursing a scalded tongue, she swallowed cautiously and did her best to reply in measured tones. ‘For what it’s worth, I’d love to think you might be right.’