Dark Venetian Read online

  Count Cesare shook his head. For a moment, the completely unexpected statement had thrown him off balance; momentarily he thought only of his own feelings in the matter. But now realization of what this might mean came flooding back to him, and he was necessarily more abrupt than he had intended.

  ‘It is ludicrous!’ he said coldly. ‘And if our visitors are to be this woman, and her stepdaughter, then I suggest you quickly contact the postal services sending a cablegram to England, or the United States, wherever they might be, informing them that circumstances beyond your control forbid such a visit at this time, or you may find there is no longer a Count Cesare at this address!’

  But his words did not have the expected reaction.

  ‘It’s too late,’ she replied complacently. ‘They are already staying at the Danieli, and I telephoned a welcome to them this morning, inviting them to stay here as long as they wish!’

  CHAPTER TWO

  EMMA sank down on to the side of the bed a little wearily, giving herself a welcome break from packing. It seemed quite ridiculous to her that Celeste should have unpacked so many articles when she must have known from the beginning that they would not be staying long at the hotel. But as Celeste had no intention of packing cases herself when she had Emma to do it for her, it was perhaps not so ridiculous after all, particularly as Emma knew that Celeste liked having beautiful things, things of her own, around her, secure in the knowledge of her own possessions. Emma had had good cause to remember that.

  Drawing a deep breath, Emma studied her reflection in the full-length mirror of the dressing table, just across from her. She saw a pale replica of herself, pale cheeks, pale lips and pale hair. Did she seem doubly insignificant after seeing again the riotous glory of Celeste’s red-gold curls, and flashing blue eyes? She could not fail to compare herself unfavourably with her stepmother, conscious as she was that a severe dose of influenza had left her mentally as well as physically depressed. She supposed she ought to feel grateful to Celeste for taking her away from a damp and chilly May in England to the warm, and deliciously heady climate of Venice in spring, but somehow anything Celeste did now seemed necessarily to have strings attached, and she had not as yet discovered what those strings might be.

  It had been a shock to the young Emma to discover her father’s passion for a girl young enough to be his daughter, particularly as it was only a few months after Emma’s mother’s death, and when he had married Celeste, Emma had had to force herself to be pleasant to her new stepmother. But she needn’t have bothered. Celeste had no time for young girls, and lost no time in persuading Emma’s father to despatch her forthwith to boarding school, despite the fact that his salary as an accountant would barely run to the fees.

  Emma had accepted school life. She had always been popular at the local school, and found no difficulty in making friends with girls at Saint Joseph’s Academy, near Aylesbury. Holidays were a different matter, and Emma was sent to various aunts and cousins until she was old enough to spend holidays at home without interfering with her stepmother’s life.

  Her father, much to her concern, seemed to deteriorate in stature every time she saw him, and she could only assume that Celeste’s constant demands for money were getting him down. In her final term at school when she was preparing for ‘A’ levels, he had died, and she had been sent for from school, never to return.

  When her father’s affairs were settled it was revealed that there was nothing left except the house they lived in, which had been left unconditionally to Celeste, who immediately told Emma that she intended to sell it, and Emma had better find herself employment and a room of her own.

  It was difficult then for Emma to adjust, and she had felt a violent anger at her stepmother for being the cause of her father’s sudden demise.

  But time healed many things, and Emma, who had seen really little of her father since her stepmother had taken charge, did not miss him as much as she might have done in different circumstances.

  Celeste she heard had gone to the States, and she had not expected to see her again. A brief notification advised her of Celeste’s second marriage, and an even briefer notification advised her of Clifford Vaughan’s death and her stepmother’s subsequent elevation in capital. Emma had been neither interested, nor envious, but rather detached, as though it was all happening to some stranger she had heard about or read about. In her absorption in her work as a student nurse in a large London hospital she had found she could forget completely Celeste’s intervention in her life and remember only things that used to be when she was a child, and dearly loved by both parents. She had realized that her father had been a rather weak-willed man and she could not entirely place the blame for her exile from her home on her stepmother, for had her father been a different type of man, Celeste would not have been able to mould him so easily to her will.

  During Celeste’s time in the United States, Emma progressed to second-year nurse and the companionship she found with her contemporaries outweighed her lack of home life, welcome as she was to visit any of the girls’ homes. She worked hard, gained commendations from her seniors, and had really thought she had found a niche for herself at last, free from any fears of upheaval.

  But six weeks ago she had developed a severe attack of influenza, which verged on the brink of pneumonia for several days, and when the crisis was past she was left weak and spent, and utterly incapable of coping, at least for several weeks, with the strenuous work of a junior nurse.

  Matron had called her into her office and asked whether there was not some relative who might be willing to have her stay with them for a while until she was completely recovered, preferably, Matron said, away from the diesel-laden air of London’s streets.

  Emma had not been able to think of anyone. Her frequent holiday visits to relatives from school, devised by Celeste, had stiffened annoyance in those relatives, most of whom had been her mother’s relations anyway, and although she had no doubt that they would take her if requested, she did not feel like sponging on them once again.

  Matron had been unable to suggest anything at that time and the problem had been left in the air, until Celeste’s air-mail letter arrived from New York. It contained an invitation for Emma to accompany her stepmother on a visit to Italy for several weeks, the actual time was not specified, and notification that Celeste was flying home to London the following day, and could Emma meet her at the airport.

  At first Emma felt affronted that after all this time Celeste should simply write and ask her to go away with her, and also issue instructions that she, Emma, should meet her at the airport.

  But knowledge of her precarious financial position, together with a trace of curiosity without which she would not have been human, urged her to comply and she had taken a bus out to the airport and returned with Celeste in a taxi, a pile of new suitcases adorning the front seat.

  Celeste’s invitation was re-issued in the lounge of a suite Celeste took at the Savoy, and Emma, in her white vinyl raincoat, and windswept hair, felt she must look more like Celeste’s maid than her stepdaughter.

  She told herself that there must be some snags, that Celeste’s greedy nature could not change overnight, and that Celeste would hardly be spending all this money on her fares and accommodation for nothing, but for the life of her she could not see the flaws. And when Celeste took it upon herself to be charming and sympathetic that Emma should have suffered such a severe dose of ‘flu, she could be entirely disarming. At any rate, Emma was prepared to give her the benefit of the doubt particularly as, as she explained, Matron had forbidden her duties at the hospital for at least six weeks.

  Celeste was triumphantly pleased at this state of affairs, and told Emma that in the circumstances there was no need for a prolonged delay. She would give Emma some money to attire herself in clothes suitable to the daughter of a wealthy woman, and after passport arrangements were made they would leave.

  It was not until they had spent two days at the Danieli, during which tim
e Emma had been left to her own devices to explore at will, that Celeste sprung on her the news that they were leaving the hotel and going to stay at a palazzo belonging to Celeste’s godmother, the Contessa Cesare.

  And now, Emma, in the throes of restoring Celeste’s suitcases into some semblance of order, was wondering again whether she was about to discover the catch in all this. Just why had Celeste brought her? And why when she so obviously had intended visiting this Contessa had she decided she needed a companion? If it was a maid she wanted, she could have hired one far more cheaply than it was costing her to maintain her stepdaughter in a private room at the Danieli, and providing her with enough spending money so that no one might consider she was mean towards Emma.

  Emma could not fathom it all. Why in any case did Celeste want to go and stay at some stuffy, old-fashioned palazzo, when she had the comfort and liveliness of this luxurious hotel? Emma felt sure that Celeste was not going to stay with the Contessa, whom she had described to Fmma as being at least eighty, for purely altruistic reasons. Celeste was just not like that! So why was she going there? Had the Contessa a son? And if she had, was he the reason for Celeste’s excitement at the invitation? After all, Celeste had everything else now, did the idea of a title impress her? And if this was so Emma again came back to the reasons for her own inclusion in the invitation.

  The door of the suite opened, and Celeste came in, glowing and vivid, her emerald green silk sheath, clinging lovingly to the slender curves of her small, yet perfectly moulded, body.

  ‘Emma,’ she greeted her easily. ‘Have you finished packing yet?’

  Emma rose to her feet. As she was five feet eight inches tall she always felt enormous beside the delicately framed Celeste, although she was quite attractively proportioned, and had none of the bony angles sometimes evident in tall girls who veer towards thinness.

  ‘Not quite,’ said Emma. ‘I was just taking a breather. Tell me, Celeste, are you quite sure you want me to come with you to this palazzo? I mean, I could just as easily stay here, or at some smaller, less expensive pensione.’

  Celeste’s face assumed a strange expression, and Emma felt that awful foreboding in her stomach that she used to get whenever Celeste called her to her to tell Emma some new arrangement which had been settled for her. But now Celeste did not intimidate her, although she sometimes looked at Emma in this strange way, as though she was only there on sufferance.

  ‘Of course you will come with me,’ said Celeste now, firmly, her smile belying the coldness of her eyes. ‘We have both been invited, and naturally you will accompany me.’

  Emma shrugged. ‘But why should the Contessa invite me?’ she persisted, and Celeste made an impatient movement.

  ‘You ask too many questions!’ she said irritably. ‘Where’s my lemon chiffon? I shall wear that for dinner this evening. The Contessa is joining us here for the evening, and we’ll leave the hotel tomorrow morning for the Palazzo.’ She turned away, studying her reflection satisfactorily. ‘By the way, you’ll be dining with us this evening.’

  Since their arrival at the Danieli, Emma had dined in her room, leaving their table in the dining-room to Celeste, who liked the mystery she created around herself, and liked to know everyone was speculating about the lovely widow who sat alone at her table every evening.

  Emma’s eyes widened now, but she made no further comment. The mystery deepened, and a faint suspicion was dawning within her that Celeste wanted to impress this Contessa with her affection towards herself. But why? Unless the Contessa had expected that Celeste would take care of her stepdaughter when Charles Maxwell died.

  Could this be the link she was seeking? Emma wondered. It was painfully true that until now Celeste had considered Emma an encumbrance, the sooner to be rid of, the better.

  Emma wore a pink linen gown that evening, which while having cost Celeste quite a large sum was nevertheless very simple in design, and did not entirely suit Emma’s fair colouring. She suited more definite colours rather than pastel shades, and in her present mood of suspicion, Emma couldn’t help but wonder whether Celeste had chosen her clothes more to detract from her attractiveness than to add to it.

  It was true that in the past she had not had a lot of money to spend on clothes, but those she had were serviceable and youthful, and she had never before had this feeling of being quietly manoeuvred into anonymity.

  The Contessa arrived on the dot of eight and Celeste and Emma met her in the downstairs lounge. Emma thought she had never seen a more regal person in her life, and as both Celeste and the Contessa were so small she felt doubly at a disadvantage.

  However, the Contessa was in a mood to be charming, and when the introductions were over, and they had ordered a pre-dinner aperitif, she turned from her minute questioning of Celeste, to Emma, and said:

  ‘And you, my dear; how do you find your sudden change of fortune?’

  Emma glanced at Celeste, and then shrugged disarmingly.

  ‘I … er … it’s very different from the hospital,’ she said uneasily.

  Celeste’s fingers gripped her arm warningly.

  ‘Hospital?’ said the Contessa, frowning. ‘You have been in hospital, my dear? But this is very unfortunate at your age.’

  ‘I … w …’ began Emma, but the grip on her arm was painfully tightened.

  ‘Did I not tell you in my letter that Emma had had a severe dose of flu’?’ Celeste was saying swiftly. ‘It almost turned to pneumonia, and of course hospital was the safest place.’

  Emma stared at her stepmother in amazement. If she had needed any confirmation of her earlier suspicions, surely this was it!

  ‘No, my dear Celeste,’ said the Contessa, as Celeste relaxed her grip on Emma’s arm. ‘You did not tell me. But no matter. How fortunate it was that you were coming to Italy. You will find recuperation here far more enjoyable than in London I venture to say. I know that country very well, and the climate appals me!’

  Emma swallowed hard, unable to think coherently for a moment.

  ‘Your English is excellent, Contessa,’ she murmured awkwardly, unable for the life of her to think of anything else to say, and she knew she was expected to say something.

  ‘Thank you, my dear. I have always thought so, myself.’ The Contessa smiled. ‘Come, drink up your martini. I think it is time we went in for our meal.’ She slid an arm through Celeste’s. ‘And now, my dear, you must tell me everything. I want to know all about these two late husbands of yours, and whether you are thinking of marrying again. At thirty-three your life has barely begun. We must try to make your stay an unforgettable one.’

  Emma felt stunned. She wanted to plead a headache, which she surely had, and leave them for a while to gather her scattered wits, but her innate sense of decency would not allow her to insult the Contessa in this way. Besides, she knew well what Celeste’s reaction would be if she suddenly found her stepdaughter trying to escape from the evening’s entertainment.

  So she went in to dinner, and toyed with her food while she listened to the conversation going on between the Contessa and her stepmother. The meal was delicious; the minestra, a soup made of vegetables and herbs, was both aromatic and tasty, but Emma hardly noticed what was on her plate. Even the sweet dessert failed to arouse her from the lethargy into which she had sunk. To her relief, the Contessa addressed most of her remarks to Celeste, so she was saved of the need for more lies, although Celeste was not averse to embroidering the truth to suit her own ends, as well as altering circumstances completely should she find it more in her interests to do so.

  ‘Poor Charles,’ she was saying. ‘He was still a young man when he died, barely fifty-three, and so charming!’ She glanced at Emma. ‘Naturally, Emma and I shared our grief together, and I think we helped one another at that awful time.’

  ‘Of course.’ The Contessa was understanding. ‘It is always an unhappy time, and you were lucky to have a companion so near your own age. After all, my dear, you could not by any means be taken for t
his child’s mother! You look ridiculously young yourself, and you could almost be taken for sisters.’ The calculating look she gave Emma as she said this implied more implicitly than words that she considered Celeste far too attractive and delicate to have such an opposite for a daughter.

  ‘Emma and I are good friends,’ said Celeste, looking again at Emma, as though daring her to deny this statement, but Emma was too absorbed to care.

  And, as the evening wore on, she wondered why she cared anyway. After all, she had never been left in any doubt as to Celeste’s feelings towards herself from the time she was sent away to boarding school, and she had only assumed she was being taken on this trip as a kind of maid-companion, so what did it matter if Celeste chose to act as though she were the fairy godmother who had taken Emma from a life of prosaic existence, to the elegant world of palaces and countesses and riches?

  It seemed logical to suppose that Celeste wanted to appear as Emma’s saviour and mentor, and the Contessa with her obvious pride in family would hardly consider a woman who had abandoned her stepdaughter without regret two or three years ago as a fit and proper member of her society.

  Emma was not a fool, whatever Celeste might think, and chances of free holidays, although they might not come every day, should not be sufficient to warrant the deliberate deceiving of an old lady. For that was what Celeste was doing, there was no doubt about that. And the reasons would no doubt become evident if the present Count chose to make an appearance. Middle-aged, ugly, debauched; he might be any or all of these things, but Celeste, who had not baulked against marrying a man already in his seventies in the United States for the sole and obvious purpose of gaining a wealthy position in society, would hardly consider any of these things important when compared to the noblesse she would achieve by calling herself the Contessa Celeste Cesare.