Chapter 38 Rafaella #2
It was the last week in July and the tourist season was in full swing, but they had no difficulty getting a table at Osteria Origano, Dante’s preferred restaurant.
It was tucked away from the Via Seminario along a warren of roads, little more than alleys, that led to an elevated, walled garden.
Only the more discerning visitors frequented here, and it was well out of the price range of all but the most successful port citizens.
That was precisely why the Giannelli brothers liked to use it for business meetings.
Rafaella sat at the table, decorous in a new dress Fon had brought back from his trip to Rome.
It was a deep magenta colour, not a shade she had ever imagined for herself, but it seemed to complement her tanned skin and bring out the caramel highlights in her light brown hair; she had been aware of one or two people looking at her and Fon as they’d walked the short distance here.
More than once they had been told they made a striking couple.
It was just a shame that strike had never led to a spark.
Gina and Dante had arrived first, of course, and chosen seats by the wall, looking down onto the street; Dante didn’t like ‘the element of surprise’, according to Fon.
They were dining with the council leader, Bruno Collura, and his wife, Letizia, and the men had dominated the conversation all evening with discussions about budget deficits, the upcoming Ferragosto celebrations next month, and a rogue mayor who was attracting press attention ‘for all the wrong reasons’.
They still had dessert to come, but Rafaella was bored and Gina was restless.
‘Ah! Father Caputo!’ Dante said, raising a hand in greeting as a robed figure passed by below, in the direction of the seminary.
The priest, momentarily surprised, made his way up the steps and over to where they sat as Rafaella cast about for Cosimo or even Brother Savelli. Gina pinned her with a stern look as she pulled her attention back to the table.
‘Signori. Signoras,’ the priest said politely, though she knew he wasn’t given to handing out smiles unnecessarily.
‘Father – it is late for you to be out, is it not?’ Dante asked him with a slight frown.
‘I’m on my way back from ministering to some of the sick who were too unwell to make Mass,’ the father explained with a humble nod. Rafaella noted that his demeanour with the men was more supplicatory than she had seen in the community the other day.
‘This outbreak has been troubling,’ Dante nodded, wearing an expression of concern that Rafaella knew he didn’t feel.
‘I believe the vaccine uptake is improving now?’ Collura said.
‘I believe so,’ Caputo agreed. He looked at Fon. ‘Of course, signore, your wife has shown tremendous Christian charity fostering the Conte children to keep them all together. As you know, the orphanage is overrun.’
‘My wife is an angel. I don’t deserve her,’ Fon said, patting her hand on the table.
Father Caputo nodded, almost in agreement. ‘Well, if you will excuse me … I must get back to the seminary,’ he said, retreating. ‘Enjoy your meal.’
‘Thank you, Father,’ Dante said with a satisfied look, aware of the other diners glancing over curiously at their special attention from the distinguished priest.
Across the table, Gina winced, rubbing her stomach as she shifted her position. She still had weeks to go, but Rafaella was concerned she might deliver early. This pregnancy had been difficult all the way through, with Gina becoming crankier the larger she grew.
‘Are you in pain, Signora Giannelli?’ Collura asked solicitously.
‘No, they’re just twinges,’ Gina said stoically, even though Rafaella knew she’d had difficulty walking for the past few days. ‘They come and go.’
‘Your husband makes big babies, I fear,’ Letizia laughed.
Gina looked at her sharply. ‘Or possibly I am petite?’
It was true that Dante was almost a foot taller than her, so both comments were true, but a light had seemed to glint off Letizia’s words that caught both Gina’s and Rafaella’s attention.
Neither of them were fools; they knew their husbands kept mistresses, but the men were discreet about it, respectfully so.
If it was conceivable that Dante would seduce a business associate’s wife, it was inconceivable that he would bring her to their dinner table.
And yet … he was a man with appetites. And his wife was very, very pregnant.
Rafaella looked between Dante and Letizia with sudden comprehension, feeling a stab of anger on her friend’s behalf.
Collura cleared his throat and reached for his drink, looking uncomfortable, as if he too knew the secret. ‘And perhaps you too, soon …?’ he asked Fon.
‘I’m sorry?’
‘Will make big babies,’ Collura laughed with a shrug.
Rafaella felt herself freeze as Fon’s hand squeezed hers a little tighter on the table. ‘Well, that is very much our wish, yes.’
‘I’m certainly looking forward to becoming an uncle,’ Dante said, regarding them both with quiet scrutiny. ‘I want our children to grow up not just as cousins, but as close as siblings. Like me and Fon, yes, of course; but you girls were friends too before you were sisters. You understand it.’
‘We do. And I agree it would be lovely,’ Rafaella smiled benignly, but she felt his probing scrutiny. Could he see the lie at the heart of their marriage?
‘So then you need to get on with it!’ Dante laughed, flicking his wrist as if sending them off to try right now.
‘… Fear not on that score,’ Fon said coolly, the lie slipping from him smoothly.
‘You need to try harder, then, brother,’ Dante proclaimed. ‘What’s stopping you? You’ve got a beautiful wife who’s ready! Give her a baby!’
Heads turned at the boorish remark and Fon shifted, embarrassed; unlike Dante, who lived for attention, he was never comfortable in the spotlight. ‘We’re leaving it to God’s grace. He will bless us when the time is right.’
‘And in the meantime, they’ve got a house full of children,’ Gina butted in defensively, changing the subject.
‘Yes! Did I hear correctly on that?’ Collura asked, taking the bait. ‘Fon came home to find six orphans in the bed?’
‘Well, it wasn’t exactly like that,’ Rafaella demurred. ‘But yes, the six of them are staying with us now.’
‘Six?’ Letizia sighed, shaking her head disapprovingly and drumming her long nails on the tablecloth. ‘Ai-ai.’
‘The walls are bulging,’ Dante said, lighting a cigarette and drawing on it hard. ‘You will have to buy a bigger house, brother. It’s not like you can’t afford to.’
Fon’s eyes flashed towards him. ‘We’re perfectly happy where we are. Rafa loves the garden, don’t you?’
She nodded, smiling.
‘Besides, everything’s settled down since the nanny started,’ Fon added. ‘Hasn’t it?’
‘She’s very good,’ Rafaella agreed. ‘I can’t imagine how I would have got away tonight without her.’
It was true that Flavia had come in and made an immediate impact. Gina had been right: a second set of hands was vital when there were six mouths to feed, six faces to clean and six beds to make.
‘Still, to take on a stranger’s children,’ Letizia frowned.
‘It seemed like the right thing to do,’ Rafaella said quietly. ‘They had just lost their mother, and if you saw the conditions they’d been living in … I couldn’t let them be separated after all that.’
Collura sighed, shaking his head with admiration. ‘Fon, your wife is not just beautiful, she’s a saint too,’ he grinned. ‘You’re a lucky man!’
‘I know. I knew it from the first time I laid eyes on her,’ Fon said loyally, still squeezing Rafaella’s hand. He was unaware of Dante watching them, but Rafaella saw the look of jealousy in his eyes.
And something else too.