had had the idea of dressing her bridesmaids and her matron of honour in gowns identical to her own, save for slight variations of colour.
Etta’s gown was satin-covered lace, cut on slender lines, with sleeves that trailed the floor. As befitted a bride, it was gleaming white.
The six bridesmaids all wore the same, but in pink, while Joanna’s dress was also the same, in ivory. The only thing different was that the bride wore a long veil, while her attendants each had broad-brimmed hats of organdie, adorned with real flowers.
‘It fits perfectly,’ Etta said triumphantly when Joanna tried the dress on. ‘You’ll look wonderful. Now take it off so that we can have breakfast.’
In a daze Joanna ate some bread rolls and washed them down with coffee, listening to a stream of instructions, nodding and trying to concentrate.
‘OK,’ she said at last, donning her dressing gown. ‘I’ll dash back to my room for a shower, then I’ll come straight back.’
She slipped back into the corridor, so preoccupied that at first she didn’t see Gustavo. It was his sharp intake of breath that alerted her.
‘Oh, good,’ she said, laying a light hand on his arm.
To her astonishment he flinched.
‘I was going to find you,’ she said, ‘to say that I won’t be coming to the church in the same car as you after all.’
‘I see.’ His face was tense.
‘The reason is—’
‘There’s no need for you to tell me the reason,’ he said coldly. ‘I should have realised.’
‘Realised what?’ she demanded, more and more puzzled by his strange tone and manner.
He didn’t reply but his eyes roved over her dressing gown.
‘You left it a little late to emerge,’ he said. ‘I believe discretion usually suggests an early-morning departure. People are so censorious.’
Suddenly his meaning dawned on her.
‘Are you saying that you think—that I…? Gustavo, do you know whose room that is?’
‘No,’ he said, almost fiercely. ‘Nor do I want to. You owe me no explanations.’
‘I certainly don’t. But you owe me an apology. How dare you think—what you are thinking? You ought to be ashamed of yourself.’
‘Joanna…’ he said uncertainly. Something in her blazing temper had got through to him.
‘You really thought that I—?’
‘I don’t know what I was supposed to think.’
‘Well, actually, you weren’t supposed to think anything, because whose room you see me coming out of is none of your damned business. And that is especially true when you jump to insulting conclusions like some demented jack-in-the-box.’
‘I did not mean to insult you—’
‘Oh, really. Then would you like to give me a blow-by-blow account of exactly what you thought I was up to in there?’
‘No, I wouldn’t,’ he said furiously, going slightly red.
‘But you’ve got a really brilliant picture inside your head, haven’t you? I doubt it bears any relation to the reality.’
‘As you have said, it’s none of my business. Now, if you don’t mind—’
‘But I do mind. You don’t just make accusations and walk off—’
‘I have not made any accusation—’
‘Haven’t you? Then what was that remark about early departures? Does that come from experience? How early are your departures, Gustavo?’
‘I see no need to discuss it.’
‘I’ll bet you don’t. But of course, if she has an apartment in Rome you don’t need to leave early, do you? Or does she have nosy neighbours? Do you hide your face as you leave?’
‘What the devil are you talking about?’ he snapped.
‘I’ll tell you what I…’
But it was no use. She couldn’t keep it up. Amusement was stronger than anger, and the next moment the laughter welled up in her, bursting out so strongly that she had to clutch the wall.
‘Joanna—’
‘What an idiot you are!’ she choked. ‘But I suppose I’m an idiot as well. Just forget it.’
‘Forget it? You make your opinion of me very clear and I’m supposed to forget it?’
‘Well, you made your opinion of me very clear, but I forgive you.’ Another gale of laughter swept over her. ‘Oh, heavens, I shall die of this.’
His brow cleared a little at the implications of her amusement. His heart was beating as he had seldom felt it before. Not for twelve years, in fact.
He longed to ask her to tell him how wrong he was, but for the life of him he couldn’t have got the words out.
Then, from behind the door, he heard a sound that seemed to restore him to life. A burst of female laughter. The next moment the door was flung open and Etta appeared. Over her shoulder he could see at least three other