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balcony to fall down to the valley floor,' Amanda said
grudgingly. 'I suppose I ought to be grateful for that
much.'
`We will make the draperies as modest as possible,'
Cesare assured her.
`Thank you,' she said, a trifle tartly, thinking that he
bore a strange resemblance to the dark-visaged centaur
from whom the girl was in flight.
Two days later, Piero informed her that he was going to
have to travel to Florence to take part in a conference of
wine growers. Cesare was eager for the firm to take a
place in the international market, hence Piero's original
trip to England, to learn all he could about the London
end of the business.
`This conference may mean orders,' Piero told her. 'I
have to go.'
`I would love to see Florence again,' she said. 'While
you are working I could sightsee. It will be marvellous to
wander around the Uffizi, to see the Duomo again, and
P
68 HAWK IN A BLUE SKY
the Baptistery doors. Remember, it's five years since I
saw them all.'
`I will ask Cesare,' Piero said doubtfully. 'I would love
to take you, my darling, but you know how it is ...
business conferences do not halt when it is five-thirty.
They go on over dinner, even at breakfast each morn-
ing!'
Cesare was more forthright. 'You'll need all your wits
about you on this trip, Piero. I can't have you distracted
by the lovely Amanda. She can play the tourist in Flor-
ence some other time. There is plenty for her to do here
while you are away.'
Amanda was bitterly resentful when Piero reported
this conversation to her.
`So, the Dictator of San Volenco says I shall not go,'
she cried angrily. Cesare was a dark force at the back of
everything that happened in the city; moving, manipu-
lating, constantly in control of their lives.
`We must try to propitiate him, remember,' Piero
pleaded. 'While I am away, darling, be nice to Cesare.
Don't argue with him all the time.' He wore a harassed
expression.
'Oh, Piero!' she sighed.
`You bring out the worst in him,' he explained. 'Cesare
is not the dictator you think him. It is just that he has
always been the head of the family, and he is used to
making the decisions for all of us. When you cross him
he is baffled. He only thinks for our good.'
iero ' she began shyly, trying to find words to
convey her nervousness where Cesare was concerned. But
HAWK IN A BLUE SKY 69
what could she say? She was not even sure, herself, what
it was about Cesare that made her so anxious. Piero loved
his brother. He would not believe evil of him. He clearly
resented it if Cesare paid attention to Amanda, but he
seemed to feel few doubts as to the wisdom of leaving his
fiancee in close relationship with a man who had once
proposed to her, and still showed signs of resenting their
own betrothal.
He trusts Cesare, Amanda thought, looking at his
handsome, boyish face as he kissed her.
`Where will you stay in Florence?' she asked.
`In the Via dei Pilastri with some old friends of mine,'.
Piero told her.
`Oh, not in a hotel ?'
`No, not in a hotel.'
`Good friends of yours? Do I know them?'
A slight flush rose in his cheeks. She was puzzled by it.
No,' he faltered, 'I don't think you know them.'
Cesare came into the room unexpectedly. He looked at
Piero with a raised brow, searching his brother's flushed
face curiously. 'Who does Amanda not know?'
`The people Piero is going to stay with in Florence,'
she told him. -
Cesare looked sharply at Piero. 'Aren't you going to
the Hotel Maggiore?'
`No,' said Amanda, as Piero was slow to reply. 'He is
staying in the Via dei Pilastri with some friends.'
Piero was crimson. Cesare stared at him, his brows
drawing together in a black line.
`I thought I made myself clear?' Cesare demanded. 'I
70 HAWK IN A BLUE SKY
told you to go to the Maggiore. You have gone behind
my back, after all, have you? How dare you do this? I
made it quite clear to you how things were to be in
future ...'
Amanda was dumb with amazement at Cesare's
angry, domineering tone. She looked at Piero incredu-
lously, waiting for him to reply forcefully.
Piero was pale now. He stared at his feet. 'I know
what you said. You said it often enough.'
`Then you will revert to the original arrangements,'
Cesare commanded. You will go to the Hotel Mag-
giore.'
Piero shrugged. 'Just as you say ...'
When Cesare had gone, Amanda demanded angrily,
`Why did you let him order you about like that? You are
no longer a child, never permitted to think for yourself.
Why shouldn't you stay with friends? I suppose Cesare [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]