‘Signorina, you must wake up.’
The words were accompanied by a nudge and Carina felt herself being drawn out of deep slumber. She was lying on a feather mattress with her face pressed against sweet-smelling linen. The hand touched her again and she opened her eyes to see a woman with white hair looking down at her.
‘Who are you?’
‘I’m Selida. I’ve been nursing you. You have slept for two days.’
Selida brought over a tray and sat down by the side of the bed. She helped Carina to sit up and wrapped a napkin round her neck.
‘The fever has broken, but you’re still weak. Let me help you.’
Selida ladled a spoonful of broth into her mouth and a frown creased Carina’s brow.
‘I don’t understand. Where am I?’
‘You’re at Monteleone,’ Selida explained gently. ‘Your carriage broke down. You were obliged to travel the last few miles on horseback. Benito is concerned for your welfare and asked me to take care of you. You must rest now and I will return later.’
When she left the room, Carina lay back on the pillows. Her carriage? Benito? Did she mean Mavrone? She had thought Selida was a housekeeper, but her quiet dignity suggested a more elevated position. Carina tried to recollect what happened after she collapsed. She had a dim memory of faces peering down at her and Mavrone lifting her onto a horse. After that nothing, until he carried her into this room – she recognised it now – and laid her down on the bed. Monteleone was Ben Mavrone’s home and he had dragged her halfway across Sicily to bring her here.
Carina closed her eyes and slept until Selida returned. She followed her into a small room with a basin and a bathtub filled with water. Declining her offer of assistance, Carina poured water from the jug into the bowl and washed her face. Looking into the glass, there was no beauty in her hollow cheeks and her face was as pinched as a street urchin. She climbed into the bath and lay in the comfort of the warm water before washing her hair. When she returned to the bedroom, a young girl was with Selida.
‘May I present Bella Campi? She’s your maid. I will come to see you every day.’
Bella gave her an impudent look as she bobbed a curtsy. They left and Carina was relieved to be alone. The windows were open and she heard the sound of waves and a rake scraping on gravel. There were voices beneath her window and, looking down, she saw a courtyard smothered in blue wisteria. Mavrone was speaking to a small, well-dressed woman whose face was hidden by the wide brim of her hat.
Too tired to wonder who she might be, Carina spent the rest of the day in bed. She ate supper by the fire, wearing the wrapper given to her by Selida. Bella attended to her and Carina let her go as soon as she was finished. As the door shut, a draught made the candles flicker and she went over to close the window. Black night shut her in. Monteleone was a prison, she thought, as dark and forbidding as its owner. Her illness had left her weak and she hoped Mavrone would keep away as he had at Castelvano. She needed time to bolster her defences. And then, as if she had summoned him up, his voice came from behind her.
‘I’m glad you’re recovering. Take care not to catch another chill.’
Mavrone was standing by the door with a decanter of wine and two glasses in his hand. She walked slowly back and sat down, pressing her knuckles until the joints cracked. It will be different here, she told herself. There are people like Selida at Monteleone. Mavrone will have to behave himself.
He took the chair next to her – close enough for Carina to see nicks in his skin, where he had cut himself shaving, and smell his cologne. He poured wine into the goblets and gave one to her. The wine warmed her and she waited for him to go on.
‘Are you feeling better?’
‘Who was the woman with you outside today?’
‘Greta Mazzini. She’s an old friend and cousin to Italy’s greatest political philosopher, Giuseppe Mazzini.’
Mazzini was an exile in London, Carina remembered, a radical intellectual whom Jane Parsons admired. Had Mavrone told Signora Mazzini she was here, she wondered? What reason might he have given for her presence?
‘Greta has kindly agreed to write to your family – to inform them you’re safe and no ransom is demanded. You will be returned to Palermo as soon as possible.’
‘And when might that be?’
‘When I can make the appropriate arrangements. Your disappearance caused quite a stir and Scalia’s agents are still scouring the island. You’ve caused my fellow patriots a good deal of trouble.’
‘That’s hardly my fault!’
‘And I wasn’t the one responsible for your abduction.’ Mavrone’s glance swept her face. ‘You’re free to go as you please in the house and garden but no one leaves Monteleone without my consent. I advise a little patience. You never know, you may come to enjoy it here in time.’
His hand dropped over hers, stilling the restless movement of her fingers, and Carina snatched it free coming to her feet so fast she knocked over her glass.
‘I’ve been with you long enough to be sure I will not!’
Mavrone picked up the goblet and used his handkerchief to mop up the spilled wine. Then he leant back in his chair and looked up at her.
‘I’ve only one question for you. We were betrayed soon after the evening at the Palazzo Riso. Did you pass on any information you overheard to Prince Scalia?’
‘I didn’t betray Baron Riso.’
Carina shook her head. Mavrone must know she hadn’t betrayed them. Why else would she have warned Enrico? She had used Scalia as a weapon against him – and what good had it done her? She was too sick at heart for another battle, too tired to go on fighting. The only thing she wanted was for him to go away.
‘I’m not Prince Scalia’s accomplice – nor am I his mistress. I loathe the man.’
‘Do you really expect me to believe that?’
‘I don’t expect anything.’
‘Are you saying your relationship with him was innocent? Riccardo Scalia doesn’t know the meaning of the word.’
Carina fixed her gaze on the intricate carving of the mantelpiece. A nerve beneath her eye began to jump and she put a hand up to stop it. There was a bitter taste, like lemon pith, in her mouth and she swallowed.
‘I’ve told you the truth.’
‘And the scandal in London, do you deny that as well?’
‘Is it beyond you to imagine I might have retained my virtue?’
Mavrone was on his feet and, meeting his incredulous gaze, Carina reached for the arm of her chair and sank down. There was no way of knowing what he made of her admission for he had turned his back on her. Reaching for the poker, he stirred the logs in the grate and stood for a long time looking into the fire.
Carina listened to the hiss of flames until he moved away from the hearth. Her eyes followed him as he took off his jacket and hung it over the back the chair. He went round the room extinguishing candles and then sat down to tug off his boots. The first one came off and dropped onto the floor.
‘What are you doing?’
The question was superfluous, for it was quite obvious he was undressing. Mavrone, occupied with the other boot, looked up, for a moment uncomprehending. Then he pulled it off and stood up.
‘It’s late and I’m preparing to retire for the night.’
‘You’re not going to sleep here. This is my room.’
She broke off as Mavrone divested himself of his shirt. Firelight cast shadows on his chest and her heart began to race. She pressed her hands together, clenching and unclenching her fingers. Surely, tonight he could mean her no harm? A shiver ran down her spine as he moved his chair opposite her. He sat down and leant forward with his elbows on his knees.
‘If what you say about you and Scalia is true, why didn’t you tell me before?’
Carina kept her head low, taking care not to meet his eyes.
‘I wanted to annoy you – and make sure you kept your distance.’
‘And well I might have, had you not encouraged me otherwise.’
‘So why didn’t you let me escape?’
‘Because if you betrayed us, the Compagni would have arrested every man of fighting age in Castelvano. We’re preparing for war and cannot lose a single patriot. Nevertheless, I apologise for my behaviour and retract what I said about your virtue. You’re under no obligation to me.’
So that was his answer. It was nothing personal. No matter he had hurt and degraded her. Words cost him nothing and Carina was silent.
‘I treated you badly and I’m very sorry,’ Ben added slowly, after a pause. ‘I hate to be deceived and lost any sense of decency. Please look at me, Carina.’
He unpeeled her fists from the arms of the chair and took her hands in his own. Carina tried to pull back, but he held her fast. Unwillingly, she raised her gaze to his face. There was regret in his eyes and something else she had seen before. Ben said he was sorry, but that wouldn’t stop him trying to seduce her. I swore never to let him come near me, she reminded herself. Let that be his punishment.
‘If you want me to leave, I’ll go immediately. The choice is yours.’
‘Have you no principles, Captain Mavrone, no morality at all?’
‘None whatsoever. I wanted you from the first moment I set eyes on you. I haven’t forgotten our meeting in the Palazzo Riso.’
Ben lived outside the laws of society as he lived outside those of the state. With his good looks and silver tongue he expected her to yield, Carina thought. Beyond here lay the scorched wasteland of the fallen woman, ostracised by society and a disgrace to her family – but what did he care? Ben took any opportunity that came his way. It was the same as ever; his determination against hers, mind against body. Why did he have to torment her?
‘Do you honestly think I’ll let you ruin me?’
‘If I ask you to marry me, would it make a difference?’
What was he talking about? He had no intention of marrying her! Carina would never know why she didn’t challenge him then. She felt possessed by a devil, lurking in the shadows, waiting until this moment to claim her. Suddenly she was overcome by a sense of inevitability. Hadn’t she known from the beginning her fate was bound up with his? Ben Mavrone had infiltrated her soul and she had neither the will nor strength to send him away.
Let it be … Let it be … Her head fell back and Ben knelt on the ground in front of her. He drew his finger from her chin down to the collar of her wrapper and planted a kiss at the base of her neck. Then he took the garment by the sleeves and pulled it down to reveal her bare shoulders. His hand made its way up her arm, returning to her elbow, brushing upwards again and across her collarbone to close over her heart.
‘So what’s it to be, sweetheart? Shall I go or stay?’
Tell him to leave now. Don’t let him do this … The instructions hammered in her head but Carina ignored them. She longed for the comfort of his arms and warmth of his body. Fear and shame died away and Ben undid the sash of her gown and laid his head on her breast. She looked down at his hair, so dark against the whiteness of her skin, and pressed her lips to the top of his head.
‘Stay.’
The conflict was over and Ben stood up and swung her into his arms. He carried her to the bed and lay down beside her. Moonlight fell across them and he ran his hand the length of her body. A rip of longing tore through Carina as Ben kissed the lobes of her ears before his lips came down on her mouth. She was on the brink of something from which there could be no return and did nothing to stop him until he nudged her legs apart. She stiffened and Ben lay still, gently stroking her hair and the side of her face.
‘There’s nothing to be afraid of, carina, my love.’ He spoke her name as an endearment. ‘It’s time you learned the pleasure you’ve been missing.’
Carina remembered one brief moment of desperation that made her catch hold of his shoulders before her arms went round him. Her head was pressed down into the pillow and she smelled his clean, masculine scent. He was telling her he loved her, telling her she was beautiful. This was what she wanted; the feel of his body and his hands beneath her hips as they dissolved into one another, Ben taking her with him into the night, rising and falling in waves of sensation. She was aware of the pulse in her wrist and the surging of her heart. Sparks of electricity fired in her blood – there was no sense of time or space – only Ben in the warm, crushing darkness, the fusion between them and a wild, unknown thrill of surrender. Her last conscious thought was that she was disembodied and weightless, floating through water with her arms locked around his neck.
A long time afterwards her surroundings became solid and she lay with her cheek on Ben’s chest. She listened to the quiet rhythm of his breathing and was unprepared for the tears that filled her eyes. They slipped from beneath her lashes and Ben’s arms tightened about her. He held her to him and Carina cried until there were no tears left and she didn’t know if they were for what she had lost or gained.