Sins of the Flesh (28 page)

Nothing loath, the gentlemen captains accepted this rare accolade. “And tonight,” Silvestri said, swirling his balloon, “we are all invited to Busquash Manor for dinner, including all wives and children down to newborns. The older kids will be screened first-release movies, and the younger ones will watch a pantomime-style concert. Infants will have lullabies.”

“That’s what I call civilized,” said Fernando with a grin; he was the father of a ten-year-old boy, an eight-year-old boy, and a five-year-old girl, so sitters were usually a nightmare.

Despite the darkness of Ivy and Jess lingering web-like still, it was a joyous gathering that evening at Busquash Manor. The kids were spirited away to environs that pleased even the most fussy among them, including beds as well as skilled entertainers, which meant the unexpected treat of freedom for parents, fed the most delicious foods and drinks. Rufus played Chopin, Rha sang Russian folk songs in a voice that went from soprano to bass, and then everyone lounged around in comfortable chairs to talk.

Carmine participated, but as an outsider. A rare privilege for one from a large and closely knit family. The Brothers Carantonio, he reflected, had subtly changed, thanks, according to Delia, to Jess Wainfleet’s one good deed. She had told Rufus to stop atoning for their father’s crimes, and he and Rha had seen her logic. Rufus, of course, was flirting with Delia, while Rha had captured an extraordinary duo: Betty Goldberg and Gloria Silvestri. If anything good had come out of this business, it was a steadier foundation for Rha and Rufus.

Stomach pleasantly full, Carmine leaned back in his chair and listened to John Silvestri on the subject of funny farms.

He must have fallen asleep, and Silvestri had compassionately moved away to let him doze in peace; when a hand rested lightly on his shoulder, he jumped.

“Phone, Captain,” said Rha.

Carmine got up and followed Rha down one of the Manor’s halls to a jade-green and citrus-yellow room where a phone was lying off its cradle.

“Delmonico!” he barked, not pleased to be aroused.

“Carmine, listen,” said a beloved voice, “I’ll have no arguments! I am well, I am rested, I am in an uplifted mood, I am as fat as butter, and I am bored to dry sobs. The boys are missing Frankie and Winston desperately. I am flying home tonight on the red-eye. Phone you from Kennedy.” Clunk.

Blinking, he emerged into the hall.

“Is everything okay?” Rha asked anxiously.

“My wife’s coming home on the red-eye.”

“That,” said Rha, “calls for a drink.”

Colleen McCullough was born in western New South Wales in 1937. A neuroscientist by training, she worked in various Sydney and English hospitals before settling into ten years of research and teaching in the Department of Neurology at the Yale Medical School in the USA. In 1974 her first novel,
Tim
, was published in New York, followed by the bestselling
The Thorn Birds
in 1977 and a string of successful novels, including the acclaimed Masters of Rome and Carmine Delmonico series, and a memoir,
Life Without the Boring Bits
. In 1993 she was awarded an honorary doctorate from Macquarie University for the meticulous research she conducted for her Roman novels. In 1997 she was declared an Australian National Living Treasure and in 2006 she was awarded the Order of Australia for services to the arts and to the community. In 1980 she settled in Norfolk Island, where she lives with her husband, Ric Robinson, and a cat named Shady.

Tim

The Thorn Birds

An Indecent Obsession

Cooking with Colleen McCullough and Jean Easthope

A Creed for the Third Millennium

The Ladies of Missalonghi

Bittersweet

THE MASTERS OF ROME SERIES

The First Man in Rome

The Grass Crown

Fortune’s Favorites

Caesar’s Women

Caesar: Let the Dice Fly

The October Horse

Antony & Cleopatra

The Song of Troy

Roden Cutler, V.C. (biography)

Morgan’s Run

The Touch

Angel Puss

The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet

Life Without the Boring Bits

THE CARMINE DELMONICO SERIES

On, Off

Too Many Murders

Naked Cruelty

The Prodigal Son

HarperCollins
Publishers

First published in the United States

by Simon and Schuster in 2013

First published in Australia in 2013

This edition published in 2013

by HarperCollins
Publishers
Australia Pty Limited

ABN 36 009 913 517

harpercollins.com.au

Copyright © Colleen McCullough 2013

The right of Colleen McCullough to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the
Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000.

This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the
Copyright Act 1968
, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

HarperCollins
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McCullough, Colleen, 1937-

Sins of the flesh: a Carmine Delmonico novel / Colleen McCullough.

978 0 7322 9803 6 (pbk.)

978 1 4607 0102 7 (epub)

A823.3

Cover design by Hazel Lam, HarperCollins Design Studio

Cover image by Paul Debois/ Getty Images