The Italian’s Rightful Bride Read Online Free PDF Page A

very heartbroken.’ She laughed.
    They began seeing each other. He was good company, merry, slightly feckless, but kind-hearted. She was lonely, and managed to persuade herself that her affection for him would be enough. They married while she was still at college and she became pregnant immediately, only just managing to get her exams out of the way before rushing to the hospital for Billy’s arrival.
    To do Freddy justice, he really tried, managing to be faithful for a whole four years, a record for him. For Billy’s sake they stayed together for another four years, until his infidelities exasperated her beyond bearing.
    The divorce was amicable. If she’d been really in love with him their parting would have hurt more than it did.
    She knew almost nothing about Gustavo in the intervening years. Recently she had chanced to pick up a newspaper bearing the announcement that Their Excellencies Prince and Princess Montegiano had been blessed with a son and heir, their first child since the birth of their daughter ten years previously.
    So the marriage had flourished, she thought. She had done the right thing.
    It worked out well for both of us, she mused now. Life’s gone well for me too. I’m in control, settled, even happy. My job is great, I’m friendly with my ex. I have a son I adore and who thinks I’m ‘OK’—a big compliment from a ten-year-old boy. I’m one of the lucky ones.
    So why did I return here?
    She looked out at the quiet streets of Tivoli, then past them to the vista that led to Rome.
    Because after all these years, it’s time to exorcise the ghost and be free to get on with my life.
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    She reached the gates of the Montegiano estate to find them exactly as she had last seen them. The gatekeeper called to the house and received a message to let her in. Driving the long road to the house was like a rewind of her previous experience.
    She chatted calmly to Billy, refusing to think of what would happen in a few minutes when she would see him for the first time in twelve years.
    Crystal would be there and she would see them together, husband and wife. The sight of their domesticity would be the final piece in the puzzle.
    At last the huge palazzo came in sight, just as she remembered it, broad white marble steps sweeping up between tall, elegant columns. As her car neared an elderly man came out and stood waiting, a smile of welcome on his face.
    â€˜I’m Professor Carlo Francese,’ he said, shaking her hand. ‘We spoke on the phone. I’ll be your host while Gustavo’s away.’
    He wasn’t here. Her heart skipped a beat.
    But it was good, she told herself. She needed no distractions.
    Billy and Carlo took to each other at once, she was glad to see.
    â€˜You’re in the Julius Caesar room,’ Carlo explained. ‘It’s always given to the guest of honour.’
    She almost said, Yes, I know. The room had been hers when she was last here.
    It had changed a lot, and she could see that money had been spent reviving it. It now looked new, shining, and, to Joanna’s eye, less charming. Billy had been given theroom next door, which was equally grandiose and reduced him to fits of laughter.
    After a wash and brush-up she knocked on his door. He joined her, looking around him at the gorgeous hallway, with its marble columns and frescoed ceiling.
    â€˜What a place!’ he said with an appreciative whistle.
    â€˜It is, isn’t it?’ she agreed. ‘What’s up, Billy?’ He had turned suddenly.
    â€˜I just thought I saw someone on the stairs. There.’
    They looked just in time to see the pale face of a little girl staring up at them with hostility. Then she vanished.
    Joanna went downstairs, braced to see Crystal, but there was no sign of her. Carlo ushered them into a magnificent room with tall windows overlooking the lawns, and immediately plunged into talking about the foundations that had been