The Royal House of Niroli Collection. Кейт Хьюит
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he’s not due until the end of next week,’ Amelia said, her own heart suddenly feeling as if it needed an ECG. She turned to wash her hands to disguise her shock, taking her time with the soap and towel before she turned back round.
‘I expect he has come early to enjoy the spring sunshine before he starts work,’ the old woman said as she put her leg up on a foot stool for Amelia to inspect. ‘It is quite a coincidence, don’t you think?’
‘Coincidence?’ Amelia frowned in puzzlement. ‘What do you mean?’
‘He looks so Italian you could almost swear he was born and bred on the island.’
She frowned again as she turned back to her bag. ‘I couldn’t quite work out the accent,’ she said as she opened her bag to retrieve the dressings she’d brought with her. ‘I thought he sounded more British than anything.’
‘He is very highly educated, of course. I believe he has spoken at conferences all over the world on this new technique. Perhaps his accent has become a little diluted by now.’
‘So why is he renting that run-down cottage behind yours?’ Amelia asked. ‘If he’s such a hot-shot doctor surely he would want to stay at Santa Fiera where the casino and all the resort hotels and restaurants are.’
‘I suppose he wants to be close to the hospital and the older part of the island. Besides, he is only here for a month so a rustic working holiday might hold more appeal. The cottage is not that bad—it just needs a bit of a clean-up in the garden.’
There was no arguing with that, Amelia thought wryly, but somehow she couldn’t see the highly regarded cardiac surgeon getting down and dirty with a fork, spade and wheelbarrow.
‘So what did you think of him?’ Signora Gravano asked.
Amelia pursed her mouth as she unwrapped the old dressing on the old woman’s leg. ‘I thought he was…er…’
The old woman chuckled at her hesitation. ‘He is very handsome, enough to make a woman’s heart race, eh, Amelia? Good thing he is a cardiac specialist. He probably leaves a trail of broken hearts wherever he goes.’
‘Yes, well, I am sure I will not be affected in such a way,’ Amelia said firmly, doing her level best to block the memory of his strong arms around her.
‘You have spent too long with the nuns,’ Signora Gravano said. ‘I always thought it would do more harm than good when you went to that convent after your mother passed away. You are too young to devote yourself to the sick without having a life of your own.’
‘I do have a life of my own.’
The old woman grunted. ‘You call that a life, living so far away in the foothills of the mountains like a peasant, cleaning up after your father and your brothers? You should be out dancing and enjoying yourself like other people your age. You work too hard, Amelia, far too hard.’
‘I won’t have to work so hard for ever. I’ve got a new job. I’m starting tomorrow.’ Amelia straightened and added, ‘The king needs a private nurse two days a week and I’ve landed the job. It fits in beautifully with my community work and my shifts at the Free Hospital.’
The old woman’s grey brows rose over her black button eyes. ‘What does your father think of you working for King Giorgio?’
‘I haven’t told him…yet.’
‘Wise of you. Staunch Republican that he is, I do not think he would approve of you slaving at the Niroli palace.’
‘I am thirty years old, Signora Gravano,’ Amelia said. ‘I think I am old enough to work wherever I choose without the approval of my father or brothers.’ She closed the bag with a little snap and added, ‘Besides, my father is not likely to live much longer.’
‘How is he?’
She let out a tiny sigh. ‘Going downhill every day but he refuses to admit it. He won’t go to the hospital and will not allow anyone to visit. Anyway, what doctor would travel all that way to see him only to be turned away? I do what I can but I fear it will not be long before he is beyond help.’
‘Can you not convince your brothers to help you?’
‘They help me when they can but they have struggles of their own. It is not exactly easy being a Vialli on the island of Niroli. Everyone has such long memories.’
‘It was a terrible time on the island back then,’ Signora Gravano said, her expression clouding. ‘You are lucky you were not yet born. There was such hatred and violence, so much bloodshed.’
‘I know…’ Amelia released another sigh. ‘My father’s never really got over it.’
‘There are many who believe he deserved to die as well,’ Signora Gravano said with gravitas.
Amelia didn’t respond, but she felt her blood chill just as it did every time she thought about the incident that had changed her family for ever.
‘I must not keep you,’ Signora Gravano said with a fond smile. ‘You are a good girl, Amelia. Your mother would be very proud of you.’
Amelia bent down and gave the old woman a gentle hug. ‘Thank you.’
‘Why don’t you leave your skirt with me to mend,’ Signora Gravano offered as Amelia straightened once more. ‘You can borrow something of my daughter’s. She still has things in the wardrobe for when she visits.’
‘I don’t want to put you to any bother.’
‘It is no bother,’ she insisted. ‘You are much smaller than her but it will see you home without embarrassment. You never know who you might meet and what would they think of you looking like a gypsy?’
A few minutes later Amelia looked down at the huge sack of a dress she had borrowed and wondered how she was going to walk the distance back to the Free Hospital in the stifling heat. Her brother Rico had yet again borrowed her car and had agreed to meet her back at the hospital once she had seen the last of the community patients.
She kept her head well down as she hurried past the visiting doctor’s cottage, sure she could feel that dark, mocking gaze following her even though there was no sign of anyone about.
A flashy-looking sports car turned the corner and she stepped onto the grass verge to avoid its dust, but instead of going past it came to a halt beside her.
‘Hey there, little pixie.’ The man she had met earlier grinned at her through the open window. ‘I see you’ve changed into something a little more comfortable.’
Amelia tightened her spine, her eyes flashing with sparks of ire. ‘I believe you are the Australian doctor we have been expecting,’ she said. ‘What a pity you didn’t think to introduce yourself properly when you had the chance.’
He turned off the engine and unfolded his long length from the car to come to stand in front of her. ‘You didn’t tell me your name so I didn’t see why I should reveal mine,’ he said with a teasing glint in his eyes. ‘Fair’s fair. It’s my very first day on the island. A guy can never be too careful these days. For all I know you could be a dangerous criminal.’
She stared at him for a moment, wondering if he had heard the rumours about her family, her heart starting to clang like a heavy bell in her chest.
‘You’re not…'he bent slightly to peer deeply into her eyes ‘…are you?’
She took a little step backwards, almost tripping over the hem of the borrowed dress. ‘W-what?’
‘A dangerous criminal.’
‘I—I told you before—I’m a…a nurse.’
His eyes flicked to her outfit before returning to her face. ‘A plain-clothes nurse it seems. Are you on some sort of undercover operation?’
‘I don’t wear a uniform