Page 5 of The Virgin's Dance with the Devil
Dear Rico,
My thanks for your letter – reading it made me feel like a heroine from a twentieth-century novel!
My thanks, too, for your offer of dinner, but I’m afraid my book club meets every Tuesday. Although I have no wish to hurt your feelings, my answer would have been no, whatever date you had suggested.
I wish you well.
Regards,
Marisa
Dear Marisa,
Thank you for writing back to me. Having read your letter, I understand what you mean about feeling like you’ve stepped into a 20th-century novel. It feels so much more personal to receive your words in your own hand than through an email or message (and your handwriting really does put mine to shame!). When I wrote my first letter to you I was tempted to buy myself a quill and ink set as Yuri uses when writing to Lara in Dr Zhivago (have you read it? It’s one of the few books I’ve read where I prefer the film, but I think that might be due to the translation rather than the book as it was originally written)!
While your answer to my offer of dinner was not what I wanted, I respect your decision. If you ever change your mind, just let me know. I give you my word that I will not do or say anything that makes you feel uncomfortable. To prove my intentions are honourable, I will not complain if you bringa chaperone along (although I might complain if they sit at the table with us!).
With much affection,
Rico
Dear Rico,
Please don’t hate me for saying this, but I would never have guessed you were a lover of books! I’m afraid I’ve never read Dr Zhivago, but it was one of my grandmother’s favourite films and I watched it with her many times as a child. It is so funny you mentioning about the quill and ink set as I remember badgering my parents to buy me one, and all because of that scene. Unfortunately, I was a clumsy and messy little girl, so I don’t blame them in the least for saying no.
Thank you for respecting my refusal of dinner with you. I don’t want to lead you on or give you the wrong idea. If I were to meet up with you, it would be on the strict understanding that it isn’t a date. If you are willing to respect that, then I am travelling to Milan for work next week and can meet you on Wednesday for lunch. A colleague recommends Gio’s restaurant, off Piazza San Baila. I will be there at 1 p.m.
With warm regards,
Marisa
Dear Marisa,
I never knew time could pass so quickly. Every minute we spent together has been seared into my heart.
Forgive me for coming on so strong, but seeing you again onlyconfirmed what my heart was already telling me – I’m in love with you.
I know it is too soon for you to hear words of my love, but I’ve been raised to believe that when you love someone, you should only speak truth to them. As Denisov says to Sonya in War and Peace, ‘We are asleep until we fall in love!’
I have been asleep for thirty-two years, and now I am awake.
I will not pressure you into meeting up with me again, not now I know the circumstances of your home life and why a relationship is impossible for you, but please, my angel, write back to me.
With love and affection,
Rico x
Rico,
My apologies for taking so long to reply. To be honest – and I always try to be honest – I was afraid. You speak of love, but Rico, we don’t know each other. One dance and an hour together eating gnocchi, and now you’re in love with me?
When I told you about my parents, it wasn’t me pushing you away, it was meexplaining my life to you. My father’s illness doesn’t make a relationship between us impossible (difficult, yes, but impossible, no). I’m afraid it’s your own actions that have made it impossible for me to entertain a relationship with you. If even a fraction of the stories about you are true, then yours is a world I do not want to be a part of. I also cannot be with a man who has spent a decade treating women like disposable toys. When I fall in love, I want it to be forever, and we both know you don’t do forever.
I do like you, Rico, very much, but it can never be more than friendship, so please, forget about me. Any love you think you have for me will die when the next woman catches your eye.
Best wishes,
Marisa
