Luca leaned forward in his chair, his elbows resting on his knees.
‘It doesn’t feel right, the decision of what to do with it resting on my shoulders,’ she said. ‘Your family has protected and stored the tiara all these years, and I don’t?—’
‘Georgia,’ he said, reaching out and clasping her hands. ‘Just breathe.’
‘But—’
‘Nobuts,’ he said. ‘I will help you decide what to do with the tiara. If you decide you want it exhibited in a museum, I will take care of the details, but not yet.’
She nodded, knowing that he was right. ‘Did you know about the safety deposit box?’
He shook his head. ‘I did not.’
‘So, you have no clue what it might contain? Other than a letter?’
‘A tiara from another fallen dynasty?’ Luca teased.
As Georgia groaned, the assistant arrived with their coffees, and she gratefully took the cup and slid deeper into her seat. As much as she enjoyed spending time with Luca, she was ready for this part of the journey to be over. She wasn’t sure if she could handle any more surprises.
20
LAKE GENEVA, OCTOBER 1951
‘No one needs to know,’ Martina said, rubbing Delphine’s back in big circles as they sat on her bed, the door closed to stop anyone else from listening. ‘We can keep this hidden.’
‘There’s no way we can keep this hidden!’ Delphine cried. ‘I’m going to lose my children. When he finds out, if anyone breathes so much as a word of this, I’m going to lose Tommaso and Isabella.’
Martina tucked her finger beneath Delphine’s chin and made her look up, her gaze stern. ‘No one is going to find out. I’ve found somewhere for you to go.’
Delphine’s eyes widened. ‘You have?’
It had been weeks since Florian had gone. So many long, painful weeks of mourning in private, of feeling as if her heart had been ripped in two, of having to pretend as if the love of her life hadn’t been stolen from her. Some days she could barely breathe, couldn’t comprehend that the world could just continue as if nothing had happened; and then there were the days like today, where panic set in, and she realised that she could lose everything. The only thing worse than losing Florian would be losing her beloved children.
‘The place I’ve found is in London,’ Martina said. ‘You can travel there when you’re six months along, and we can keep your condition hidden until then. Remember how long it took you to show with Tommaso and Isabella? Your stomach was barely even rounded at four months, so we have at least another month before we’ll have to conceal it.’
‘But if anyone were to suspect, if?—’
‘We will let some of the staff go now that we’re moving back to your marital home,’ Martina said, her voice low and calm. ‘I will be the only one to attend to you, and you don’t have to worry about Giovanni.’
‘Because when was the last time he even tried to come to my quarters?’ Delphine said, not even attempting to disguise the bitterness in her tone. But she’d long since given up keeping things from Martina. ‘You’re right that he wouldn’t notice, unless he comes home and expects me to accompany him to something.’Why couldn’t Giovanni have been the one to die? Why did it have to be Florian?The moment she thought it she felt ill to her stomach, though; Gio might not have been a good husband to her, but he didn’t deserve to lose his life any more than Florian had.
‘If Giovanni returns or does seek you out, you shall be sick,’ Martina said. ‘He will not question me if I tell him you’re unwell, and he certainly wouldn’t come to investigate the matter for himself. I actually believe that it will only help strengthen our story when you need to disappear for an extended period.’
‘But what of the children?’ Delphine asked. ‘How will I hide this from them? Isabella may only be six, but she’s smart. She’ll notice the change in my appearance. And Tommaso, he’s such a sensitive boy. What if the children figure it out? What if they suspect something?’
Martina took her hand and looked into her eyes. ‘For this to work, you’re going to have to leave the children for a periodof time. We will need to devise a story about you being very unwell and needing treatment. We have to have a reason for your disappearance, a reason for you to be isolated or to seek specialist care instead of returning for them.’
‘You expect me to leave them?’ Delphine gasped. ‘With who?’ She’d never left her children for more than a night; couldn’t stand to be parted from them.
Martina’s eyes were soft, her expression caring, and Delphine knew she only had her best interests at heart. ‘You must leave them with Giovanni in London, or with your sister here in Geneva. But wherever you choose to leave them, I promise you I’ll stay with them the entire time. I’ll be able to write to you and tell you everything that you’re missing, and when you’re back, they’ll forget that you were ever gone.’ She paused. ‘This is only a short time, Delphine, and it will protect them and you.’
‘I couldn’t,’ Delphine murmured. ‘I couldn’t leave them, not for so long. I?—’
‘It’s leave them for three months, or lose them forever,’ Martina said in a no-nonsense tone, the way Delphine might speak to her children when she was cross with them. ‘There’s no other way. I’ve thought of everything. If you want to make sure no one can take them from you, then this is what you have to do.’
‘There is another way,’ Delphine said, her voice barely a whisper now. ‘The way we discussed. The way that could put an end to this immediately.’ She shivered as she said the words, the very fact that she was even discussing such a thing making her feel nauseous. ‘I’m prepared to do anything to keep my children safe and with me, even…that.’
Martina shook her head. ‘No. I asked, and the risk is so high, you could bleed to death. And if someone saw you going there…’ She patted Delphine’s hand, hard. ‘No, SignoraDelphine. I cannot allow you to even think about it. It’s much too dangerous.’
