Page 21 of Change of Heart
‘Does that mean you don’t mind if we employ Luca to be our architect?’
‘If he’s the best person for the job, then you need to employ him. As far as I’m concerned, if you and Alice think he’s the one, then you’ll have my full support.’
‘But what about Papà? How do you think he’s going to react if we tell him we want to employ Luca, and what if I then tell him that I’m in love with Tommaso? He’ll have a fit.’
‘Your father inherited his belief in the sanctity of the family from his father, and he inherited that from countless generations before him, but just as your father’s seen the wisdom of trying to generate a profit from our home and its lands, I’m sure we can convince him of the suitability of the two brothers.’
‘You said “we.” Does that mean you’ll help persuade him?’
‘Of course I will. Now, ring the bell for Ines or Silvia, would you?’
A few seconds later Ines herself arrived and the baroness called her over. ‘Ines, I’ve just had some very good news, and we need to celebrate. Could you find a cold bottle of French champagne and three glasses please?’ She stopped and corrected herself. ‘On second thoughts, make that five glasses and ask Silvia to come back with you.’
Minutes later all five of them had glasses of champagne in their hands, including the embarrassed-looking housekeeper and her daughter. Waving away Simonetta’s offer of help, the baroness got to her feet and held out her glass towards them all.
‘I’ve just heard from my granddaughter that she’s found a man she wants to marry. I couldn’t be happier, and if this doesn’t deserve a toast, I don’t know what does.’
They all clinked glasses together and tried the champagne. It tasted excellent, and quite rightly so. From where she was standing, Alice could see that this was no ordinary champagne. The date on the bottle indicated that it was fifteen years old and she wondered how much a wine like this might be worth. For a second or two she reverted to her role as castle manager, curious if there might be a cellar beneath their feet packed with racks of precious wines worth a small fortune. She would need to look.
Simonetta was hanging on to her grandmother’s free arm with one hand and was visibly overwhelmed. Ines and Silvia were looking uncomfortable to be here drinking champagne with the baroness, but were no doubt pleased to be included. From the expression on Silvia’s face it was clear that she was dying to know the identity of the man of Simonetta’s dreams but this was not revealed for now. Obviously the baron had to be informed first. Alice rather hoped that she herself wouldn’t be there when that happened. She had had quite enough drama for one afternoon.
That evening she once again went to the Casa Rosa for dinner. Tonight, however, there was no sign of Luca, but partway through the best lasagne she had ever tasted, she got a text from him.
Alea iacta est. I believe that’s what Julius Caesar said when he crossed the Rubicon. I’ve spoken to my brother and we both feel that this is something I should do, whatever the consequences. Thank you for the commission. On behalf of LM Architects I’m delighted to accept. If the Varaldo family agree, please let me know when it would be convenient for me to make an initial visit to the property. Thanks again. Luca Montorso.
All very formal, but it was the reply Alice had been hoping for. Now the next bridge to be crossed was that of getting Simonetta’s father to agree, and in spite of having enlisted the support of the baroness, she knew that wasn’t going to be easy.
Chapter 15
Next morning Alice was at the castle early to meet up with Simonetta in preparation for the family meeting. After going through all the items on the agenda, she gently enquired whether Simonetta had broken the news to her father of her relationship with Tommaso. Simonetta gave a little smile and shook her head.
‘I’ve been waiting for the right moment and it never seems to come.’ She caught Alice’s eye. ‘Yes, I know, I should just get on with it. I know I have to sit down and have it out with him sooner rather than later, but I’m nervous as to what he’ll say.’
Alice gave her a reassuring smile. ‘It’ll be fine. Remember what your grandmother said yesterday: times have changed and love conquers all.’
Simonetta gave a weak smile in response. ‘I’m afraid love has got a lot of conquering to do if it’s going to bring about peace between our two families. Even if Papà’s okay with it, I’m terrified of how Tommaso’s father is going to react when he hears the news.’
‘Maybe when he sees that your family have accepted the situation, he’ll do the right thing.’
‘And maybe he won’t. Anyway, first things first, we need to get my father onside as far as Luca’s concerned. Even with Nonna’s help, that’s going to be tough. Don’t forget that he has row upon row of ancestors behind him telling him he should be doing the opposite.’
‘It’ll be all right, I’m sure. I have the utmost faith in your grandmother. She’s quite a lady.’
When the meeting started, Alice toyed with the idea of working through all the other less contentious items on the agenda first, before bringing up the subject of Luca, but as this was without question the most important decision to be taken, she decided to tackle it head on.
Taking a deep breath, she addressed herself directly to the baron. ‘I spent Friday interviewing a number of architects in Parma and one studio in particular impressed me. It’s a relatively new company called LM Architects. They have a lot of experience and their rates compare favourably with the others I saw.’ She waited until he started nodding in approval before dropping the bombshell. ‘The architect in charge who would be dealing with our project is called Luca Montorso.’ It took a second or two to register but when it did, the baron’s face darkened.
‘Did you say Montorso? Is that one of the Montorso family from here?’ He looked around belligerently. ‘Of course it is, they only exist in this area.’
As he paused to draw breath, Alice confirmed Luca’s identity. ‘He’s the son of the mayor of Varaldo, but he and his father had a major row many years ago and they haven’t seen or spoken to each other since.’
‘Even so, do you mean to say that you’re suggesting we give oversight of our whole project to one of our sworn enemies with whom we’ve been fighting for centuries?’ He snorted. ‘It’s unthinkable!’
Alice was about to attempt a defence of her selection when the baroness stepped in. ‘Listen to yourself, Lodovico, just listen to yourself. Can’t you hear how ridiculous you sound? This is the twenty-first century now, not the Middle Ages. Time has moved on and so must we. The girls are convinced that this man is the right one for the job and I think we should stand behind them and accept their decision.’
‘But a Montorso…?’ The indignation had gone out of the baron’s voice, to be replaced by an almost childlike pleading tone. ‘We can’t, Mamma, we really can’t. What would Papà have said? It’s unthinkable after all these years…’
‘Tell me what good this senseless feud ever did for either family. Ever since I married your father, I tried to get him to modify his attitude. Yes, there’s been bad blood for centuries and unpleasant things happened during the last war, but we have to move on. If it helps you make up your mind, I can tell you that your father used those exact same words to me twenty years ago. He told me it was time to move on. In fact, if it hadn’t been for his heart failure, I feel convinced he would have done his best to bury the hatchet.’
