Glittering Promises (19 page)

I hurried down the staircase and through the big common room, then carefully opened the door to the patio, slowly, as if I were casually emerging for the day, not intent on spying. Ahead of me, Will and Eleonora sat, deep in conversation.

“Well, good morning!” Will said, rising and turning toward me. Behind him, Eleonora rose too. She stretched out long fingers to keep the large papers on the table from blowing away in the wind. “I had about decided you might sleep through the entire day!” Will said. “The others gave up on you and set off for Montalcino with Antonio.”

No wonder it was so blessedly quiet and still. The others had all left! Instead of abandonment, I felt nothing but relief. A little time alone with Will would be wonderful.
Alone
, I repeated silently,
without Eleonora
. “Even my father went?”

“Every one of them. Lillian was quite worried you’d taken ill. I assured her you were merely in need of a good rest.”

I smiled and went to him, lifting my cheek for a kiss. “Actually, I haven’t slept so well in years,” I said.

He smiled down at me and ran his fingers down the length of my braid. “Don’t you look fresh and pretty,” he said. “Like a schoolgirl out for a stroll.”

“I feel like a schoolgirl,” I returned. “Ready to learn from my tutor all he can teach.”

“Well, that sounds scandalous,” Eleonora said with a laugh.

I’d almost forgotten she was there. I felt the heat of a furious blush rise as I repeated my own words in my mind. She’d taken a far different meaning than I’d intended. “I…I didn’t…”

Eleonora and Will laughed. “Don’t fret,” Will said. “We know your heart.” He lifted my hand to his lips, making me realize that I’d forgotten my gloves. Goodness, I had been in a hurry.

“What were you two studying so intently?” I asked, edging past Will to stand beside Eleonora.

Her deep brown eyes moved to the papers again, and here, beside him and Eleonora, I could see that they were architectural drawings. “It’s the plans for our orphanage,” she said proudly. “Will was sharing with me, over coffee, that his hobby is architecture, so I thought I’d show these to him and get his input on possible improvements.” She crossed her arms and leaned closer to me to whisper, “Toscana’s architects haven’t thought of anything innovative since the Renaissance.”

The breeze blew up again, and we both leaped to keep the sheaf of papers in place. “I assume he was of help,” I said, glancing to Will. I felt a pang of guilt over my idle jealousy, when they’d simply been discussing a project of such import. But her next words sent me into a new wave of concern.

“He is a visionary,” she enthused, her eyes shining as she gazed at him. “He thought of several different aspects that will make the building far more functional. The architect will not care for my meddling, but he’ll do what I ask. In the end, she who pays the bills rules the day. That is, when I can pay it, he’ll do what I ask.” She sighed. “At the rate I’m saving, it will be a good two years before I can begin construction.” She reached for several porcelain mugs and anchored the papers, then gestured for us to sit around the table.

I forced a smile. Even if she was looking at Will in ways I didn’t care for, she was doing something wonderful. “It’s so lovely of you, doing this for your town. Do you have a great number of orphans?”

She shrugged her slim shoulders and then began rolling the blueprints up again. “The community is good about taking care of her own. But there are quite a number of Gypsy workers who come for the summer and fall to harvest our grapes and olives, then move on come winter. Many leave behind children. Last summer, one left a baby on my doorstep.”

“A baby! Did you keep it?”

She smiled sadly. “No. I wanted her to have two parents, and I knew a couple who had longed for a child for years. They welcomed her with joy. Others…older children who aren’t quite as adorable, too young to work, too old to melt a person’s heart, are more difficult to place.”

Her eyes moved to the hillside, where six workers were patiently pruning the vines. It was only then that I noticed two were young, just barely older than children, not quite adults. She looked at me. “Giuseppe and Silvi, just fifteen and twelve. Two children left behind last fall when their widowed mother took sick and died.” She shrugged. “What was I to do? Some of my Triguetti cousins took them in, thank God. But they cannot take in all my strays. Italian families are large, leaving many mouths to feed. I need a place to look after them until I can find them proper homes.”

“It’s a fine goal,” Will said. “But does the government do nothing for them?”

“They are not Italian citizens, therefore they are not the government’s responsibility. Or so they say,” she said, splaying her hands in a helpless gesture. “Besides, it’s the church’s place to help orphan and widows.” She lifted her arms. “And are we not the church?”

I stared at her, considering her words. “And if you can’t find them all proper homes?” I asked. “What will you do then?”

She shrugged. “I will take care of the rest. Educate them, feed them, house them.” She lifted her brows. “Love them.”

I was overcome by her generous spirit, even if I was wary about her intentions when it came to Will. “I’ve never heard of anything so lovely,” I said, lifting a hand to my chest. “To invest your own time, your own land and resources… Please, I’d be honored if you allowed me to help.”

“Excuse me. What?” she asked, her long brown eyelashes blinking slowly.

“I want to help. Get you to construction now, not later, so that you can give those children and others a home,” I said, nodding to the vineyard. The more I got going on the idea, the more it pushed my jealousy back into a more comfortable corner.

“But I—” she stammered. “I couldn’t…”

“Don’t you see?” I said, taking her hand and looking into her eyes. “I long to do just this sort of thing. If I am to be a woman of means, I want to use those means for good purposes, wherever the Lord leads. And your purpose is a good purpose. You said it yourself. Are we not the church? You and I? Will?”

Still, she hesitated.

“How much will it take? How much do you need to begin?” I asked.

Her eyes set to figuring, looking to the sky. She named an amount in lire, and Will quickly translated the sum in American dollars. “That’s it?” I asked, delighted. “I shall see that you obtain the funds you need.”

“I…I don’t know what to say.”

“Truly, you’ve made me happier than I’ve made you, allowing me to contribute to this project.”

“What project?” Andrew said, arriving at the side table and pouring a glass of water. I stared at him in mute surprise. I thought everyone but Will had left for the day to Montalcino.

“Eleonora has an orphanage she intends to build. And I have just committed to assisting her.”

Andrew let his glass drop a few inches as he stared at me, and then he rubbed his forehead as if I’d given him a sudden headache. “A word, Cora? May I have a word?”

Everything in me wanted to say no, but I didn’t want to put our hostess into an awkward spot. Andrew took my arm, pinching it as he led me to the far end of the patio. “What are you doing?” he demanded.

“It really is no concern of yours, Andrew,” I said, wrenching away. I looked back at Will and saw he’d risen in concern. But I waved him back. It was time Andrew and I had it out…

“You are giving away your fortune even before it is fully yours,” he said, lifting a hand and looking at me as if I were ridiculous.

“Nonsense. I already have far more in my account than I can use in a year. I intend to put the rest to good uses like this,” I said. “Ways I can assist others. That is what the good Lord would want me to do.”

“Spare me your moralizing sermons. Do you want to be a woman in business or a woman running a foundation? Because we can certainly speak of a foundation if—”

“Maybe both!” I said. “I haven’t decided yet. And it really is none of your concern, Andrew. My father has made it more than clear to you that the Dunnigan mine is our affair, not yours.”

“And yet he also expects me to tutor you along.” He lifted his chin and folded his arms, giving me a cold stare. “I am your business partner, whether you like it or not. And I must insist you quit handing out money to every stray cat we run across until we know exactly where we stand,” he said lowly.

“Eleonora is hardly a stray cat!” I whispered. “And I know where I stand financially, and I assure you, I have more than enough to do this!”

“Yes, well,” he said with a sniff, “she is hardly the ilk of those we prefer to socialize with. If you insist on doling out hand-outs, there are more advantageous ways to do so.”

“You are—”

He held up a hand. “All I’m asking, Cora, is that you return home and assess where you are
before
you begin giving away funds that might be better used to build the family business.”

So there it was. He was afraid I would spend all available capital before
he
had the opportunity to make use of it himself.

“You listen to me,” I said, reaching up to tap his chest. “I may be new to business, but I am not new to utilizing my brain. I am quite clear on what I have at my disposal, and I am not out buying one thing after another, as some of the other grand tourists are bent on doing. But I may very well invest in people. Projects, as God leads me to do. And if you have difficulty with that, well, you—you… Well, I assure you, I don’t care!”

I turned back to the others, wishing I could’ve poured even stronger words on him, but I knew it was quite enough for today. Will, still standing, watched Andrew over my shoulder as I approached, his look silently daring the man to try to take it further.

“You are an uncommon woman, Cora,” Eleonora said, rolling the blueprints into a tube. “I believe the world has just begun to see what our lovely Cora Diehl Kensington has to offer, no?” she asked Will.

He smiled back at her, his hard expression disappearing. Andrew went inside, slamming the door, but Eleonora ignored him. Her eyes brightened. “I have a plan for us today, since the others have abandoned you.”

“Oh? What is that?” I asked, glancing toward Will. I’d hoped we might spend a few hours alone…

“Eleonora would like to take us someplace I’ve never been,” Will said. “A place Antonio mentioned enjoying in the past. The baths at Saturnia.”

“The baths?” I asked blankly.

“Toscana is dotted with hot springs, and in the south, the baths of Saturnia were those that many Romans favored,” he said.

“Oh, it is divine,” Eleonora said, reaching out to touch my arm. “But we must be off soon if we’re to get there in time. It’s quite a journey.”

“As long as we can leave Andrew behind, I’m game,” I whispered.

Two hours later, we arrived at Saturnia. I could hear the roar as soon as our driver pulled off the dirt road and turned off the motorcar’s engine. My eyes widened. “Is that
water
?”

Will smiled. “I think so.”

“Indeed,” Eleonora said. “My cousin was raised in the town above and spent many an afternoon playing in these waters. What you hear is the waterfall—Cascate del Mulino.”

Will opened the door for us. “The walls you can see above us are medieval, built by the Aldobrandeschi family. They surround an old Roman gate, dating back to the second century BC. As you’ll see for yourselves in a moment, this place is special, even as it was to the Romans and Etruscans before us.”

We walked down the road and around what appeared to be an old stone bathhouse. And then I came up short, staring in wonder. Before us was a series of beautiful turquoise pools, steam rising from each. At the top was a twenty-foot waterfall thundering in a torrent over the edge and down into the pool below, which subsequently fed the others, each one pouring into the next. On the extreme right, the pools drained into a river below us. “Oh,” I breathed. “This is lovely. So lovely! Is the water quite hot?”

“Deliciously hot,” the woman said, taking my hand and pulling me along. “Come, let us change. I’m eager to sink into those waters.”

We parted from Will, who went to the other side of the bathhouse to change. I was struggling with the buttons on my skirt, and soon Eleonora was asking if I was ready when I hadn’t even fully undressed. “Go ahead,” I called. “I’ll be out in a moment.”

“Are you certain? Do you need assistance?”

“No, no. Just some stubborn buttons. I can manage.”

“All right. See you soon.”

She left, and in time, I managed to undress and don my bathing costume, a woolen short-sleeved dress that reached my knees, with pantaloons beneath that extended to my calves. I stuffed my skirt and blouse into my satchel and hurried out to join the others. But I halted at the doorway. Will held Eleonora’s hand, helping her into the first pool. And the woman was in the tiniest bathing costume I’d ever seen—with no sleeves at all, a big bow beneath her breasts, and a skirt that stopped mid-thigh. Her hair was tucked into an adorable little cap, making her look chic. I looked down at my own bathing costume, suddenly feeling frumpy and out-of-sorts. I looked around for other women, but there were only two men in the distant pool beside a stand of cattails, looking with interest at my scantily clad hostess.

Eleonora took a step, then stumbled and shrieked. Will narrowly caught her and steadied her, laughing with her but clearly looking uncomfortable. My eyebrows rose, and the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. I stepped out into the light, and as if they sensed me, both turned to look toward the bathhouse. Will set Eleonora to rights and took a step away.

“Ready, Cora?” he asked, confused by my hesitation. “Come. It isn’t too hot. It feels lovely.”

I bet it feels lovely. Did it feel even lovelier holding her?
I thought darkly as I set my bag with the others and then made my way to the rocks that were waist-high. Will trudged through the water and reached out a hand to help me over. I took it, not looking at him.

“Cora? Are you all right?”

“I’m fine, Will. Fine.”

“Well, all right. You don’t seem…” His words dropped off as I passed him.