‘
Since January
?’ Carlotta threw up her hands in horror, letting out a string of rapid Italian in her distress. ‘All this time you lie to me and keep secrets from your own mother. My child! My baby!
Momma Mia
! That settles it, you will stay in on Friday and help me with the sewing. When you are well enough to do this stupid rock ‘n’ roll, never mind start the courting, I will tell you.’
‘Until then,’ Papa said in clear English. ‘You will do exactly as your Momma says,
si
?’
Gina knew when she was beaten. She loved them both far too much to ever stand against them. Even so, she hated the look of pure victory on her sister’s lovely face.
Chapter Six
Gina was not allowed out of the house for the entire week. Carlotta decided that her daughter must have been over-taxing herself, as she’d become far too emotional and tearful of late. She was instructed to rest, and largely confined to her room which had come to seem like a prison to her after the long years of her illness. Sometimes, in the afternoons, Momma allowed her to come downstairs for a little while to play with the children, since it was Easter week and the school was closed.
No life for a sixteen year old girl on the brink of womanhood.
Gina guessed that a part of her mother’s reasoning was the fact that these restrictions would also allow her to keep a better eye on her wayward daughter. Carlotta kept on lamenting how she had never expected Gina to be the one to cause her problems, how she had always been the good girl.
‘Such an angel you were! So much the sweet charmer. Never a worry, not until … ’ Then her mother would wring her hands in despair over the unmentionable shame of her illness, and reach for her rosary to say thanks to the Virgin Mary that she’d been spared.
Gina endured it all in silence, occasionally stealing glances out of the window, whenever Momma wasn’t looking, in the hope of catching a glimpse of Luc.
She hoped that he would come knocking on her door and demand she be released from her prison. Of course, he didn’t do any such thing. How would he dare to confront Papa or Momma? This was no fairy tale and she was no Sleeping Beauty.
But she ached to see him, longed to have the courage to stand up to her parents and demand more independence now that she was reasonably well again. But how could she defy them when they’d devoted years of their lives to nursing her?
They wanted only what was best for her and Gina felt that she had to win them over gradually. She felt convinced they would come to trust her and cease to worry about her quite so much if she demonstrated sufficient common sense and maturity. Then she would be free, to start living as she so longed to do.
Except that she did wonder if all this nurturing and sheltering had made her too trusting and naïve. Was Carmina right when she accused her of not understanding how the world worked, or how boys really treated girls?
Gina had never been given the opportunity of a normal upbringing like her siblings. She knew nothing of the rough and tumble of school-life. She was an innocent, spending her days in a kind of bubble, protected by her loving family from the harsh reality of everyday life.
Was she a fool then to trust Luc?
Gina was haunted by the thought that what Carmina had said about him might indeed be true. Was he truly guilty of two-timing her, of kissing other girls? Gina desperately wanted to believe that her sister’s accusation was a result of malicious gossip, of which there was plenty in Champion Street. Otherwise how could she go on loving him?
It tormented her that she couldn’t get out of the house to ask him for herself but since Momma remained adamant that she stay in her room, in the end Gina was driven to writing him a letter. There seemed no alternative.
She chose her words with care and asked Carmina to deliver it for her, impressing upon her sister the urgency of giving it to Luc personally, without telling a soul, and to ask for a reply.
‘Tell him that I need to talk to him. I
do
want to go with him to the dance, I
do
like him, and it’s not my fault that I’m not allowed to go. Can I trust you to do this for me?’
‘Of course you can trust me!’
Carmina had apologised for revealing Gina’s secret meetings, and begged for forgiveness. The two sisters had made up, after a fashion, and Gina didn’t feel she had any alternative but to trust her. It was vital that Luc get this letter and her younger sisters would only blab to Momma right away, even if they managed not to actually lose the darned thing.
Besides, Carmina might be temperamental and quick-tempered but she was the sister closest to Gina in age. They’d been quite close before her illness, and Carmina was the one who’d always shared her room.
When Gina had been frightened that she might never walk again, it was Carmina who’d cuddled beside her in bed in the middle of the night, reassuring her that she would indeed get well. She might claim that it was the only way for her to get any sleep but Gina knew her sister hated to show any sign of weakness. She would also run up and down stairs fetching hot water bottles, romance novels from the library, fascinating tit-bits of gossip, or sneaking up extra treats such as Pringle’s chocolate mints and Candy Kisses that Momma didn’t think were quite good for her. So how could she not trust her?
For days Gina waited for Luc’s reply, but none came.
Once, she saw him crossing the street, weaving his way between the stalls, and her heart started to race. He was coming to the house. She waited, ready to hurry down the stairs as fast as she could were he to drop a reply to her note through the letterbox.
He stood for a moment looking up at her bedroom window. Embarrassed to be caught spying on him, Gina quickly stepped back to hide behind the curtains. After a moment, he thrust his hands in his pockets and walked away, shoulders hunched. He hadn’t posted any letter.
In that moment, Gina knew, in her heart, that it was all over between them. He obviously could offer no defence to Carmina’s accusation. He was guilty as charged and there was no alternative but to forget Luc Fabriani. She must put him right out of her mind.
Carmina picked up the dish of rum tortoni she’d just finished making and threw it at her brother. To her enormous irritation, he ducked and the glass dish shattered into a dozen pieces on the marble counter top, the ice cream splattering everywhere. Now she would have to clean it all up before Papa returned from his errands. But Carmina did so hate to be crossed.
‘I
won’t
work this afternoon, so there! I have some errands to do and I
must
get ready for the dance. If you won’t stand in for me, then Patsy will have to do it instead.’
It being Friday and pay day, she was anxious to pick up the red and black cabbage rose skirt she’d reserved from Dena, perhaps buy a blouse to go with it. Carmina never could keep money in her pocket for more than five minutes, although she’d made sure to put aside a few shillings for the dance tonight.
Patsy smiled pacifically, well used to Carmina’s tantrums, and, reaching for a fresh dish, began to fill it with rum flavoured gelato for the bemused customer.
‘Sorry, but I have my course this afternoon, so can’t help, love. I only popped in to ask you to remind Momma that I’ll be a bit late coming for supper tonight.’
Two afternoons a week on Wednesdays and Fridays, following a busy morning on the Higginson sister’s hat stall, Patsy attended a milliner’s course at the local tech. The moment it was over she rushed to see Marc, her gorgeous fiancé, in the tall terraced house on Champion Street where all the Bertalones lived noisily and happily together.
‘Well, you’ll just have to cancel it for once,’ Carmina snapped. ‘Aren’t you even listening to me? This is
important
!’
Patsy took a breath, privately congratulating herself on how well she could hold her temper these days. A skill she would need once she was married into the volatile Bertalone family. ‘I’m sorry, but we all have our duties and responsibilities to bear and my class is important too.’ Far more important, Patsy privately considered, than a dance. ‘You’ll just have to manage as best you can.’
Carmina stamped her foot, having no intention of allowing her wishes to be so casually ignored. ‘Don’t you dare tell me what to do! You aren’t in charge here, and I
have
to get ready for the dance. It’s
vital
that I look my best tonight.’
She pulled the ribbon from her loosened hair and tied it up again, the curls rippling as if with a life of their own, and was instantly distracted by her own flattering reflection in the huge mirrors that lined the walls of the small ice cream parlour. She began to preen herself, fiddling with the ribbon, teasing the kiss curls on her smooth brow.
Patsy thought the girl looked utterly bewitching, as always, particularly since her cheeks were suffused with hot temper. ‘Why is this dance so important? Who are you going with?’ she pleasantly enquired as she scooped up a generous portion of ice cream for the poor, patient customer.
The woman had quite lost interest in her treat as she listened avidly to what was going on, not wishing to miss a word of this fascinating conversation.
’She’s going with my mate, Arnie,’ Alessandro interrupted.
Carmina glanced at her brother in open contempt. ‘I’m going nowhere with
boring
Arnie, even if he is your best friend. He has pimples and is far too young for me.’
Alessandro looked stricken. ‘He’s nearly sixteen, only a year younger than you, and he’s doing something about the pimples. Besides, you
promised
! He’s told everyone you’re his date. It would be cruel to dump him. He’ll be devastated!’
Carmina shrugged, the gesture eloquently expressing that she was well accustomed to breaking young men’s hearts.
She was all too aware of her attraction to boys. She could see the admiration in their eyes, the glint of excitement when they looked at her, even in older men like Alec Hall. She’d noticed at once that he was smitten, positively salivating over her. It amused her that he probably hadn’t even considered attending the dance until she’d suggested it. Which gave Carmina a delicious sense of power.
Oh, and didn’t she enjoy that? Carmina loved men, so long as they appreciated her properly, which Luc Fabriani clearly did not. He would pay for his negligence, if she had her way. Perhaps that was where older men had the advantage. They were far less concerned with themselves.
‘For your information I’ve promised nothing! I
hinted
that I might be prepared to go with your friend, that’s all.’ She had, of course, done exactly the same with half a dozen other slavering hopefuls. They would all be eagerly queuing up to ask her to dance tonight.
‘You mean you kept him dangling in case you didn’t get a better offer.’
Carmina stamped her foot so hard this time the brass scoops and spatulas in the dish beside her began to rattle. ‘Of course I got a
better offer
. I’ve had dozens of offers, any number, and when I make up my mind which one I intend to accept, you’ll be the first to know, little brother.’
It occurred to her in a moment of inspiration that she might well be able to take advantage of all this interest in her to make Luc jealous. Except that none of these plans would work if she didn’t have ample time to get ready. It was vitally important that she stun him with her beauty tonight, and make him forget all about her stupid little sister.
Alessandro started mocking her about how she would soon be too fat to attract anyone, if she kept on eating the way she did, and Carmina retaliated with fury.
Patsy considered intervening in the quarrel which seemed to be escalating out of control but elected instead to persuade the long-suffering customer to sit at one of the little marble topped tables while she finished preparing the Tortoni Sundae. The woman chose one close enough to the counter to hear the rest of the argument.
Alessandro pulled a face. ‘As if the rich and handsome Luciano Fabriani would so much as glance in
your
direction. No wonder he asked our Gina to the dance, and not you. She’s a sweetheart and you’re a
witch!
’
Carmina’s temper reached boiling point, but she could hardly refute the accusation without revealing that he had indeed once taken her out and then chucked her. That would be even more shaming. However, she’d devised a plan which tonight would have him eating out of her hand, she was quite sure of it.
She flicked her pony tail and a sly smile curved her sultry mouth, her mood changing as swiftly as a black cloud passing over the sun. ‘Luc only asked Gina because he was afraid
I
might refuse him. He isn’t Gina’s type. It’s me he really wants. I
shall
be with Luc tonight, make no mistake about that.’
A figure appeared in the mirror beside her, arms folded in typically censorious fashion.
‘Oh, no you will not,
mia carina
. Haven’t I already made it clear, that boy, for all his money and his fine looks is no good. He is not for Gina, not for you, not for
any
daughter of mine, so do not think for one moment that your father or I will allow it. And if you don’t clean up that mess this instant, you won’t be going to any dance either.’
‘Momma, I didn’t hear you come in.’