When she woke up the next morning, Ben had gone. The memory of their passion was as sweet as the scent of jasmine wafting in through the window. For the first time, she had learned what it was to be loved. How strange that someone as aloof as Ben had revealed this to her! How surprising he had been so infinitely tender. Until last night, she hadn’t known what it meant to be truly alive. Recalling her abandonment in his arms, Carina experienced a thrill of pleasure. Others might be outraged, but how could she be, when he had made her happy?
There was a knock at the door and Bella came in. She opened the shutters and, stifling a yawn, Carina watched as she laid fresh logs in the grate. Her wrapper lay discarded on the floor and Bella picked it up with a disapproving look. She went out, then returned with a breakfast tray, and a skirt of worsted material with a cotton blouse.
‘Thank you, Bella,’ Carina murmured as she sat up.
‘Nothing to do with me, ma’am. The captain asked me to provide you with clothes.’
She buttered a roll and drank her coffee while Bella remained at the foot of the bed. She seemed unwilling to be dismissed and Carina wished Ben had come instead. She thought of his words in the night and wondered what it would be like when they met again. The thought made her pulse quicken.
When she had washed and dressed, Carina sat at the dressing table. The mirror showed her cheeks were pink and a new brightness in her eyes. She looked better already, she thought. Bella picked up a box of pins and Carina told her she preferred to leave it down. The next moment the box dropped onto the table and the girl marched to the door. She stood there with her hands on her hips and her head lowered.
‘Suit yourself, ma’am. Quality don’t come to Monteleone any more – only women of a different kind!’
Bella flounced out of the room, leaving the door open. As her footsteps rattled down the passage, Carina’s grip tightened round the hairbrush she had unconsciously snatched up. She was shocked by her rudeness – but Bella had seen the crumpled bedclothes and much else besides. She would relay every detail to the other servants and she must find Ben and make sure he stopped her.
Carina hurried downstairs to a hall that was cluttered with walking canes and coats. The front door was open and she took a moment to study the house that was Ben’s home. Monteleone was a white two-storey building around a central courtyard and its air of normality heartened her. She couldn’t see Ben outside, and, trying the first door she came to, entered an oval room with French windows.
Miniatures and bronzes crowded the tables beneath old mirrors and the portrait over the fireplace arrested her gaze. At first she thought it was of Bianca Scalia. The likeness was such that they might have come face to face, only the young woman was dressed in the fashion of a generation before. It must be her mother, Isabella del Angelo.
The resemblance was so striking, Carina felt goose pimples on her arms. She thought of Paulo’s story and Bianca Scalia’s connection with Monteleone. Bianca had spent her holidays here. It was at Monteleone that she and Ben had fallen in love all those years ago – and here they had said their final farewells.
The room felt oppressive and, loosening the collar of her shirt, Carina stepped out on to the terrace. She walked to the end and went down a flight of steps to a garden aflame with red hibiscus. The sky was dazzling blue, the moss soft and springy beneath her feet and she followed a path to where a wooden bench was placed against the wall.
Sitting down, she tried sort out the chaos of her emotions. What happened last night was momentous. Nothing would ever be the same again. She would never be the same. For the first time she could remember, she had woken this morning feeling at peace. There had been lightness in her heart until the altercation with Bella dispelled her euphoria. Who were these other women who came to Monteleone, she wondered? Was it possible that Bianca Scalia was still in Ben’s life? She must go and find him. When she saw him again, she would be reassured.
Carina walked back to the house, not looking at the portrait of Donna Isabella as she passed through the oval room. She searched the ground floor, but there was no sign of Ben. She would talk to him later, she decided and returned to her bedroom. She lay flat on the bed and was half-asleep when she heard Ben’s voice in the passage. There was no time to put on her shoes or straighten her skirt, but she was out of bed in her stockinged feet when he walked in.
Ben was wearing riding clothes and his face was streaked with dust. He was so handsome, Carina felt a clutch at her heart as he walked over and kissed her on the forehead.
‘I’m away for a couple of hours and return to find the household in an uproar. Bella Campi’s handed in her notice. Apparently, she finds herself unsuited to the position of lady’s maid.’
‘Really? Then it saves you the trouble of dismissing her.’
‘What happened? Why did she upset you?’
‘She was unpleasant and insolent.’
‘There’s only one person at Monteleone whose opinion is of any account and that is Selida.’ Ben took hold of her hand and played with her fingers. ‘I’m glad to say she’s offered to look after you herself. What did Bella say that so offended you?’
‘She said you don’t entertain society at Monteleone – only women of a different sort.’ Carina ignored the flicker of amusement in Ben’s eyes. ‘You presume I accept things as they are—’
‘I presume nothing. You shouldn’t care what Bella thinks.’
‘But I do care!’
‘Then you’re not the woman I thought you were.’
All her life she had known who she was and where she belonged. Carina had been secure in that knowledge – and the ground had shifted beneath her feet. Who was she now and where did she belong? She searched Ben’s face for an answer and found a look akin to pity for a child who fails to understand the adult world. Then he smiled, dropped her hand and headed towards the door.
‘Don’t let it upset you, sweetheart. Your status as my guest is of no significance to anyone but ourselves. Dinner is served at seven o’clock and I’ll meet you downstairs.’