once ask if you could be a pageboy—’
‘I’ll be good, I’ll be good,’ he said, holding up his hands in a theatrical gesture of prayer.
She laughed and kissed him goodnight. But as she turned away she remembered something.
‘Do you know how Gustavo is managing with Renata now?’
‘Not well,’ he said. ‘I heard him talking to her yesterday. He started well enough, trying to be nice and all that. But he ended up telling her she’d do as she was told.’
‘Oh, give me patience,’ Joanna groaned. ‘He means well. He really isn’t the monster you thought, Billy.’
‘I know. Like you say, he does his best, but he doesn’t seem to know the right things to say.’
‘That sounds like him. Goodnight, darling.’
She slept little that night, trying to silence the voice that said it wasn’t too late to change her mind. She could abandon her trip and stay here.
At last she pulled herself together. If the prospect of a few days away could reduce her to a nervous wreck, then it was time she left.
Next morning she talked to Laura, who was totally under Billy’s spell and promised to take good care of him. Carlo promised the same thing.
‘Great kid,’ he said. ‘Don’t worry. I’ll try to keep him out of mischief, and if I fail I’ll make sure you never find out.’
‘It sounds like you’ve got it well sussed. I’d better speak to Gustavo now.’
‘I’m afraid he isn’t back yet.’
‘You mean—not back from last night?’
‘That’s right. He does this occasionally. If it’s been a very good dinner he wouldn’t want to drive home.’
‘No, of course not.’
‘And sometimes there might be another reason,’ Carlo said delicately.
For a moment she didn’t understand. ‘Another reason?’
‘Well, his wife has been gone for some months now, and Rome is full of attractive ladies who don’t ask for commitment. You could hardly blame him—’
‘Yes, I see what you mean,’ she said hastily. ‘Fine, I’ll catch him later.’
She left him before he could tell her any more and went to her room, cursing herself for her own stupidity. Where had her wits been wandering?
She threw some clothes into a bag, then went out to the dig and spent an hour talking with her team, who, as she’d known, were cheerfully unfazed by the thought of managing without her.
Suddenly she saw Gustavo’s car approaching and waited for him to stop as he’d often done before. But he drove past. There was nothing for it but to follow him.
She reached the house about ten minutes later and went to look for him in his study. Like the rest of the house it was awesomely impressive, with shelves of books climbing to the ceiling.
He looked up when she entered and smiled briefly, but she had the impression that he was no more relaxed than herself.
‘I’ve come to say that I’m going to England for a few days,’ she said.
He stared. ‘What did you say?’
‘I need to check some things in the British Museum.’
She was planning to do that as well. It seemed more tactful to say nothing about a wedding.
He set down the paper he had been holding and stared at her.
‘I don’t understand.’ His voice was curt.
‘I’m going to England for a few days.’
‘Nonsense,’ he said sharply. ‘There can be no need for that.’
Informing Gustavo should have been no more than a formality. Opposition was the last thing she had expected, and it had the effect of making her stubborn.
‘I think I’m the best judge of the necessity,’ she said coolly.
‘You have duties here.’
‘I’m aware of my responsibilities here, but you must leave it to me to decide how best to fulfil them.’
‘And your team? How will they manage?’
‘If my team couldn’t work on their own they wouldn’t be my team.’
Gustavo’s eyes became harder and obstinate lines appeared around his mouth.
‘Surely you’d do better to consult Italian museums?’
‘There are things I can only find in the British Museum.’
‘This is not a good idea,’ he said curtly. ‘I would prefer you not to go.’
Joanna regarded him with her head on one side. Gustavo was normally so punctilious that the sight of him growing angry was astonishing.
‘Gustavo,’ she said very gently, ‘I’m not asking your permission.’
‘Perhaps you should, since I’m employing you.’
She drew a deep breath and answered with restraint.
‘Even if you were employing me, it wouldn’t mean you controlled how I spend every moment of my time.’
‘What do you mean “even if”?’
‘Strictly speaking, you’re employing Manton Research, and I work for the firm. The only person entitled to give me orders