And if that meant that she was the loser, that she’d pay the price by throwing away everything she’d worked for, what then?

She glanced at Drago in the corner of the taxi, his eyes closed, light and darkness chasing each other across his face, and she reached out to touch him. At once he gripped her hand painfully tight. She returned it just as hard, and they sat like that for the rest of the journey.

CHAPTER TWELVE

DRAGO hardly spoke on the plane, and Alysa didn’t offer words of consolation that would have been useless. His face was drawn and haggard. Sometimes he made the effort to smile at her, but she could see the truth beneath it. He was in a hell of fear. She smiled back, telling him she was there for him.

It was snowing at the airport, where his car was waiting to take them to the home of the friends who were caring for Tina. Florence itself was bright and cheerful, the streets full of decorations, the lights gleaming against the darkness of the sky and the white of the snow.

‘We’ll be there in a minute,’ Drago said at last. ‘It’s getting late. She’ll think I’m not coming-’

‘Stop it,’ Alysa said firmly. ‘It’s going to be all right. When you see her you’ll smile, she’ll throw herself into your arms and we’ll take it from there.’

But she spoke with more confidence than she felt. Elena wasn’t going to see her best chance slip away without a fight, and as the house came into view she sensed that her worst fears were being realised. All the lights were on, the front door was open, and a woman was standing outside looking frantically along the road.

‘That’s Signora Lenotti,’ Drago said. ‘I left Tina with her and her husband.’ As the car stopped he leapt out. ‘It’s all right, we’re here.’

But the woman burst into tears at the sight of him.

‘What’s happened?’ Drago demanded.

‘The signora was here. She demanded that I hand Tina over to her.’

‘But you didn’t,’ Drago snapped. ‘Tell me that you didn’t.’

‘What else could I do?’ Maria wailed. ‘She said she was her legal guardian, and she threatened me with the law.’

Drago swore violently.

‘She just marched in and walked through the house,’ Maria said. ‘When she found Tina she-she acted as though we’d kidnapped her, telling her everything would be all right now that she’d been “rescued”.’

‘That poor little mite,’ Alysa said. ‘What must she be imagining now?’

‘How did she even know she was here?’ Drago raged.

‘I think someone in your house told her,’ Maria said.

‘I gave them strict instructions not to.’

‘But are they all loyal to you?’ Alysa put in. ‘I’ll bet she’s got at least one of them on her side.’

‘My God, she’ll stop at nothing,’ Drago muttered. ‘I never knew until this moment what I was dealing with.’

‘Where does Elena live?’ Alysa asked. ‘We’ve got to go on there.’

‘She’s in Bologna,’ Drago said. ‘That’s about sixty kilometres north of here.’

‘Then let’s go.’

It was dark and the road was winding, but Drago’s driver was the best, and he had them there in an hour, finally drawing up outside a splendid villa.

‘There are no lights on,’ Alysa said, fearing the worst. ‘But why? They must be expecting you. Maybe they’ve just gone to bed,’ she said, but she guessed they were both clutching at straws.

She knew the worst a moment later when the housekeeper came to the door and declared that the mistress had been away for two days, and she didn’t know where she was or when she was coming back.

‘My God, she could have taken Tina anywhere,’ Drago groaned.

‘Her other daughter,’ Alysa said. ‘Where does she live?’

‘No, that family is in America at the moment, attending a wedding.’

‘What about Leona? Where does she live?’

‘ Florence,’ he said desperately.

‘Fine. Let’s get going.’

The driver had the engine running as they approached the car, and in a moment they were heading back the way they had come.

All the time Alysa was praying that Leona’s house would be the end of the journey, and that this wouldn’t turn into a hideous search for a child who’d completely disappeared.

When at last they saw the house she was fearful, for again the lights were off. But it was Leona herself who came to the door, and Alysa could see at once that she was uncomfortable.

‘Is my daughter here?’ Drago demanded.

She nodded and stood aside to let him in, looking anxiously at his face.

‘Elena just turned up here without warning,’ she said in a placating voice. ‘She had Tina with her-’

‘And so you couldn’t turn them away,’ Alysa said at once. ‘You had to keep Tina safe until her father came for her. That was very kind.’

Leona smiled at this understanding and hurried away.

‘Why are you sympathising with her?’ Drago demanded, outraged.

‘Because it’s not her fault, and she hates the situation,’ Alysa said hurriedly. ‘Don’t you see? She’s already half on your side. Let’s keep her there and get her the rest of the way. If you come on strong you’ll alienate her and this will be harder.’

When he hesitated, unconvinced, she said, ‘Drago, why did you bring me here? Because you knew I could deal with this better than you can. So let me get on with it and don’t interfere.’

After a moment he nodded, and she saw something she recognised. He had the same weary, defeated look that she’d seen at the airport in February. He was out of his depth, and he knew it.

‘Thank you,’ he whispered.

She touched his face and turned back to the stairs, where Leona had just appeared at the top of it.

‘I’ve knocked on her door but she won’t come out,’ she said frantically. ‘She’s locked it on the inside.’

‘Where’s Tina?’ Alysa asked.

‘In there with her.’

Beside her Alysa felt Drago stiffen, about to launch a thunderbolt, but her grip on his hand stayed him.

‘Please take me up to them,’ she said.

They went up the stairs, along a corridor, with Drago determinedly following them, but keeping a cautious distance. At last they stopped outside a door. Alysa tried it but it didn’t give. From inside she could hear the sound of Elena sobbing.

‘Hello?’ she called.

‘Go away,’ Elena screamed.

‘Elena, please let me in.’

‘Go away! You tell lies, all of you. I won’t let you lie about her.’

‘Tina,’ Alysa said. ‘Are you there? It’s Alysa.’

Then came Tina’s voice by the door. ‘I’m here.’

‘Can you open the door for me?’

A pause, then a click as the bolt was shot back. But then there was a scream of, ‘No!’ from inside, and the sound of a scuffle. As Alysa entered she saw that Elena had managed to seize Tina and drag her to the other side of the room. Now she was sitting on the bed with the little girl in her arms.

For a moment Alysa felt a spurt of temper. How dared this woman subject a child to such pressure? But then she saw Elena’s face streaming with tears, her eyes crazed with misery, her chest heaving with sobs.

Through finding each other, she and Drago had come to terms with their own grief, but Elena’s loss could never be healed in the same way. She knew it, and the knowledge had driven her to desperation.

‘You’re all liars,’ Elena choked. ‘You say wicked things about my daughter, but they’re not true, they’re not true.’

Alysa had a split second to make her decision, or rather to recognise that the decision had already been made. As the words came out of her mouth, she knew that she could have said nothing else.

‘No, they’re not true,’ she said. ‘But nobody has been telling lies. It’s a simple misunderstanding, and I’m here to put it right.’

She reached out to Tina, but Elena tightened her arms and drew the child away towards the head of the bed.

‘Don’t come any nearer,’ she said hoarsely.

‘Just this far,’ Alysa said, and sat down on the bed, close enough to Tina to reach out for her hand and feel the little girl grip her hard.

‘They said Mamma wasn’t coming back,’ she whispered. ‘They said she didn’t love me any more, and she just left me.’

‘That is nonsense,’ Alysa said firmly. ‘Listen, darling, I’m going to tell you something. I met your mother on the day she died, at the waterfall. I’d gone there with James, a friend, meaning to go up in one of those chairs. While we were waiting for the next ride we went to a little coffee shop nearby. Your mamma was there, also waiting, and we started to chat.

‘She told us about her husband and her little girl, and how she was looking forward to getting back to them. She’d been away on business, and her route back lay past the waterfall, so she’d stopped off for a ride because she loved the excitement. “Then I’m going home to my darlings”, she said.’

Tina’s gaze was fixed on her. Alysa drew a long breath, knowing that she must tell the next bit carefully.

‘I enjoyed listening to her,’ she said. ‘Because I was in love, and I wanted to get married and have children that I would love as much as she loved you. She made it sound so wonderful.’

‘Truly?’ Tina whispered.

‘Truly. She loved you more than anyone in the world.’

‘What about Poppa?’

‘Yes, she loved him too, but you most of all.’

‘And she wasn’t going to leave me?’

‘No, she wasn’t, or she couldn’t have spoken as she did that day. She was full of plans about all the things you were going to do together.’

Vaguely she was aware that Elena had grown still. Her grip on Tina had relaxed, and her gaze was fixed on Alysa as if she too was hanging on every word.

‘Then we walked out to the waterfall,’ Alysa went on, ‘to get into the rides, but at the last minute I lost my nerve and stayed on the ground. I never had much head for heights. It was really James who wanted to go.’