The Italian's Rightful Bride - By Lucy Gordon Page 0,17
filled my dreams,’ she agreed. ‘Being the one to uncover it means everything to me. I remember the day you told me about it, and took me to the place where it was supposed to have stood, fifteen hundred years ago.’
‘But that wasn’t the right place, was it?’ he said.
‘According to all the books it should have been there. Only the real thing turned out to be about half a mile away. Carlo said it was found by chance, when some of the earth settled, leaving a dent in the ground.’
‘That’s right. I’m sorry I wasn’t here when you arrived. I’d have liked to be the one to take you there, and see your face.’
‘I probably looked like a child on Christmas Day.’
‘Yes, that’s what I’d have enjoyed. I remember you as always so cool and composed. It would be delightful to see you bouncing up and down with excitement.’
Suddenly he stirred.
‘Let me take you there now, Joanna, before the rest of the world awakens.’
‘All right,’ she said eagerly.
It took him five minutes to bring his car around, and together they drove slowly over the gradually lightening land.
At last the site came into view, dim and silent in the soft grey morning. They got out and went to stand looking over it.
‘It’s a slow business,’ she told him. ‘It’s only at this end that we’ve uncovered very much in the way of foundations. Over there it’s still covered in grass. We have to take it slowly to make sure that we preserve as much as possible in good condition.’
‘How many times have I walked or ridden over this piece of land, and never suspected?’ he mused. ‘It just looked like everywhere else, but now, if I’m lucky, it might be my salvation.’
‘In what sense?’
‘I have to repay my debt to Crystal. When we married she put a lot of money into this place. Now she wants it all back. Of course, she’s entitled to it, so I have to raise the cash somehow.’
‘Can you do that?’
‘I’ve managed to pay part of what I owe her, which is keeping her quiet for a while. But I’m going to have to find a big lump sum quite soon.’
‘It sounds as though things are pretty bad.’
‘I’m not crying poverty. I live well, as you can see. Carlo has told me how much I’m paying for your services and I can find it because it’s a good investment. But if you could manage to discover a solid gold vase, preferably two thousand years old, plus some proof that it once belonged to Julius Caesar, who received it from Cleopatra, I’d be very grateful.’
He spoke in a satirical voice and she guessed she didn’t have to explain to him what a wild hope this was.
A moment later he confirmed it, saying, ‘It’s all right, it’s only wishful thinking making me talk nonsense.’
‘Not nonsense. Miracles do happen.’
‘I know,’ he said, so softly that she almost didn’t hear.
‘What was that?’
‘Nothing,’ he said hastily. ‘Tell me, what’s that I see over there? It looks like a whole village.’
‘We travel with everything we need. One of those tents is a makeshift canteen.’
‘And those trucks behind the tents?’
‘Equipment, including a portable generator, that works the fridge in the canteen, so we can all have a nice cold beer. Independence is everything when you work all over the place, as we do.’
‘That’s another thing I recall about you, your independence. Be self-sufficient, and owe nothing to any man. That was your motto.’
‘I’m sure I never said that.’
‘You never had to. You were only eighteen, but even then, there was something about you that was complete unto yourself.’
‘Then you were probably lucky not to marry me,’ she said lightly. ‘Self-sufficient people can be hell on earth to live with. They often know how to give but not to take, and that can be just as hurtful.’
‘Well, it might make a change from someone who only knew how to take and never gave anything in her life,’ he said with a touch of irony.
The next moment he hurriedly backed off.
‘Please forget I said that. I make good resolutions not to criticise Crystal. It’s sometimes hard to keep them, but she’s still the mother of my child.’
‘Of course. And as for what you were saying, I’m not sure you were right about me.’
‘Well, I always wondered just how real your armour was. It was as though you’d told yourself to be that way, although I can’t think why. Maybe you felt safer.’
She was about