Eighteen

UV

ITALY

Giorgio swatted the doctor away. “I am well! Stop this fussing!”

“You are not well, Signore. You have suffered several small heart attacks over the last month. You are very lucky that you did not die in France.”

Giorgio tutted in disgust.

“I plead with you not to take what I have said lightly, Giorgio. You must rest. It is rest or death. I cannot state it any plainer than that. I could, perhaps, find you a nurse?”

“I have plenty of servants who can minister to me without hiring a nurse like an invalid!”

The doctor, who had been a close friend of Giorgio’s for thirty years, paused as he put his equipment back in his bag and turned his head, “You are an invalid, my old friend, and if you do not obey my orders I will no longer be able to enjoy a leisurely drink with you. Instead, I will be giving the eulogy at your funeral.”

“Bah, what nonsense! I am fit as a fiddle.”

“Come, you know that you are not. You must rest; your heart is in a delicate state, and it needs time to recover.”

He had finished packing his bag and sat down in an arm chair. “Now, tell me what you have learned on your travels.”

Giorgio’s drooping countenance lifted, and he leaned back in his chair and smiled like a cat, making a tent of his fingers, elbows on the arms of the chair. He recounted in detail all his journeys, the dead ends and frustrations and finally discovering what had happened to the baby. The doctor made the appropriate noises of interest and surprise. “What will you do now?”

“I would have traveled to England as soon as possible”—the doctor shook his head in alarm—“but I see that such a journey would be too risky.” The doctor’s lined face relaxed. “Therefore, I will send my estate manager, Mario, as there is no one else I trust as much, except you, my old friend, and you cannot possibly go. Mario will travel to England and make inquiries as to where this Haversham House is situated and then present the facts to the family. I will request that the child come to me in haste as I am on death’s door”—he winked at the doctor, who shook his head again, but smiled—“and am unable to travel and he will explain that she is my heir.”

“What if she will not come?”

“What nonsense, of course she will come! She is the heiress to a vast vineyard. I know the English. They like money!”

“She may not need money. Have you considered that she may not know she was adopted? The English may be fond of money, but I believe they put blood, blue blood, above all else. You may stir up a hornet’s nest, the consequences of which you cannot possibly foresee. Her parents may even prevent their daughter from ever hearing the news.”

“Ever playing devil’s advocate, Alberto. In that case, I will send my manager with a prayer and pray continually while he is gone, that God may bless him that she may learn her true heritage.”

The doctor did not respond but merely stared at the wall in contemplation.

“I must see her, Alberto. I am so lonely, and it distresses me that this,” and he pointed outside to his property with a sweep of his arm, “should fall into the hands of strangers after I am gone. This is my legacy, and I have been torn with emotion that it would never be passed down to any heirs and now God has seen fit to present me with a granddaughter. I do not believe that He would taunt me with knowledge of her only to snatch her away. God is not cruel. I believe that I have found her for a purpose, and it gives me such joy, such hope!”

The doctor smiled. “Then rest, Giorgio, if not for me, then for her, my friend.”

T

Mario Lombardi looked up at his employer with surprise. “You want me to travel to England to find your granddaughter? But the vineyard, my wife …”

“I will make it worth your while, Mario, and there is no one I trust more to fulfill this commission. And you speak some English. You know that if it were not for this infernal weak heart, I would travel there myself. But alas, the good doctor has forbidden it. He thinks I may be facing my own mortality, so speed is critical.”

He looked into the eyes of his estate manager with a pleading expression. “I must find her to tell her of her legacy … before I die.”

“Of course, Signore, of course, you are right. I will instruct Angelo on running the vineyard while I am away and promise my wife a big gift from my travels.”

“You are a good man, Mario. Now here are my instructions and the travel plan.”