Chapter 18

A s they left the dining room to return to the salotto for coffee and tea, Melody whispered to Rat, "I believe it is for the best if Mary does not accompany me tonight with Conte Foscari. I want to lull him into speaking openly to me, and it is best if he does not feel inhibited because my maid is there."

Speaking louder than he intended, Rat exclaimed, "Are you mad? You expect me to agree to you going out on a moonlit boat ride alone with a man who, even if he is not a murderer, is still almost certainly a lothario."

"Well, you do not know either thing for sure, and anyway, his gondolier will be there," Melody countered.

Lowering his voice again so as not to catch Lady Bainbridge's attention, Rat said, "A gondolier I am sure he compensates well to pay no attention to what goes on in that gondola."

Realising that they needed to find a compromise, Melody suggested, "What if I insist that we take Lady Bainbridge's gondola and that Giovanni rows us? You cannot imagine that he will look the other way if I am in any way insulted."

Rat would have liked to have argued against this suggestion, but it did seem reasonable. In all honesty, as much as he liked and respected Mary, she was far too much under Melody's thumb to be an appropriately moderating force for all his sister's wilder behaviour. Instead, he said grudgingly, "Fine. However, if he is unwilling to change gondolas, then I insist that you refuse to accompany him."

"I will agree to that," Melody conceded .

Alessandro had said that he wanted them to take in the sunset and so would call for her at eight-thirty. Given how early dinner had been, Melody had time to change her dress. She wanted to look alluring, but there were also the practicalities of getting in and out of a gondola. Finally, over Mary's protestations, she decided on a simple muslin dress that wouldn't get spoiled by some splashes of water but also had a rather daringly low-cut neckline. Melody wasn't sure how she had persuaded Tabby Cat to purchase it. Perhaps because she had not actually seen it on Melody, who had somewhat more décolletage than one might expect in a girl of her otherwise slim frame. Hanging up, the dress seemed quite demure; it was only when Melody wore it that it was so provocative.

To prevent Rat from seeing her in the dress and insisting that she change immediately, Melody took a pretty embroidered shawl and draped it demurely across her before she descended to meet Alessandro.

Rat and Alessandro were waiting for her in the palazzo's vestibule. "I have informed Conte Foscari that you wish to take Lady Bainbridge's gondola and gondolier tonight," Rat said in a rude tone that made quite evident why he would say such a thing.

Alessandro raised his eyebrows slightly but replied in a gracious voice, "Whatever will make Miss Chesterton most comfortable. Is your companion not joining us, though? "

"Unfortunately, Mary has developed something of a sore throat and headache, and I insisted that she go to bed and rest," Melody lied smoothly.

She walked towards Alessandro, who held out his arm. Melody took the proffered arm, and they turned to leave. "I will be waiting up for you," Rat said to their departing backs. No one answered him.

Alessandro informed his gondolier that he was to wait for his return and then stepped into Lady Bainbridge's waiting gondola before holding out a hand to help Melody in. As she took his hand, Melody artfully allowed her shawl to slip down off her shoulders, exposing her neckline. She could see that Alessandro had noticed and was gratified by the desire she saw flare in his eyes.

Melody sat on the bench seat in front of Giovanni with her back to him, and Alessandro sat beside her without asking permission. Both had been raised in households filled with servants and were accustomed to forgetting that they were being observed by those who waited on them. With their backs to Giovanni, it was even easier to forget that they were not alone.

The sun was just beginning to go down, and Alessandro turned and said something in rapid Italian to Giovanni. "I told him to go down to the mouth of the Grand Canal, where it opens into Bacino di San Marco, St Mark's Basin, and that we will stop by the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute to get the best view of the sunset," Alessandro explained.

As Giovanni pushed off from the porta d'acqua, Melody settled against the cushioned back of the seat. However, she was too acutely aware of Alessandro's presence to relax. While there was at least an inch between them on the bench, she felt as if her skin was prickling with electricity at his closeness. While there was a cool enough breeze that evening that Melody was glad she had brought her shawl, she nevertheless felt almost uncomfortably warm as she caught the aroma of his cologne. There was a citrusy scent of maybe lemon or bergamot with base notes of amber and sandalwood; it was intoxicating. Even more than that, there was an underlying male muskiness that she couldn't put a name to but could sense with every fibre of her being.

Melody was so aware of Alessandro and his effect on her that she almost wished she had brought Mary with her, if only to protect Melody against her own baser instincts. Perhaps reacting to her confusing feelings, Melody pulled her shawl more tightly up and around her.

They floated along in silence for a few minutes, then if only to break the tension that she felt, even if he didn't, Melody said, "Lady Bainbridge said that you have a trading business in addition to your publishing business."

"Were you asking about me, Miss Chesterton?" Melody might have been worried that she had shown her hand, except that the words were said in a light, jesting tone.

"I might have been a little curious," Melody acknowledged. She knew that her best move was to play the innocent ingenue, asking questions about topics she would pretend not to really comprehend. "I understand nothing about commerce. My guardian, Lord Pembroke, has many businesses that he has control over in addition to the Pembroke estate. I know that he has a man of business, a steward to help him and many people managing those businesses, but even so, I have no idea how he does it."

Alessandro sat back and seemed pensive for a moment. "My grandfather was something of a wastrel and drunk and gambled the family fortune away. He left my father with not much more than a title and a villa in Tuscany that had not been maintained in twenty years. If my father hadn't married my mother, I cannot imagine what might have happened. Anyway, while Mama brought a small fortune with her to the marriage, my father could never get past the thought of how close he had been to being completely destitute and decided that a small fortune wasn't sufficient to ensure that neither he nor his family ever faced ruin again."

Given that Melody had started her life in the kind of abject poverty that Alessandro probably couldn't even imagine, she listened to his story with compassion for his father's fears.

"Papa felt that to protect his family, he needed to diversify his businesses as much as possible. Over time, he became a partner in a trading business, a publisher, and a shipbuilder. I believe that he even was a part owner of a nightclub for a while. As long as he saw a path to sustainable profits, he was interested in investing. He died quite recently, and, as his only son, I inherited everything. In his never-ending quest to ensure his fortune and his family, my father had demanded that I learn every aspect of his business and could be ready to take over whenever it was necessary. Neither one of us thought that would be as soon as it turned out to be."

Melody put a hand on his arm, "I am so sorry for your loss, Alessandro." Melody had almost no memory of her parents. All she had were shadows of memories that she wasn't even sure were real, rather than merely based on stories that Rat had told her over the years. Nevertheless, she couldn't imagine losing Tabby Cat or Wolfie, Rat or Granny, or any of her loving, warm extended family. Lord Langley was a beloved uncle, and she would never forget the gentleness with which Bear would get down on the floor and play with her when she was little. Just the thought of losing any of these people made her anxious.

Alessandro put his hand on top of hers. "Thank you, Melody," he said very gently. "It was difficult, particularly at first, but my father trained me well. And now, I find myself running this commercial empire that he built, questioning myself at every turn as to whether my decisions are what his would have been." Just when she thought that Alessandro would say no more on the topic, he said quietly, almost as if to himself, "My greatest fear is that I fail to protect the business he fought so hard to build."

This was a rare moment of vulnerability and a side of Alessandro that Melody had yet to see. She liked it. A lot.

After a while longer, it was clear that they were close to the end of the Grand Canal and would soon emerge into a larger body of water. Alessandro pointed to her right, "This is the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute," he said as Giovanni moved the boat close to the shore.

The sun was about to disappear into the horizon, and the sky was a watercolour masterpiece of dramatic pinks, oranges and yellows. Melody looked up at the massive, octagonal church dome that dominated the skyline. "It is beautiful," she said, admiring its dramatic, Baroque grandeur contrasted against the magnificence of the sky.

"Not as beautiful as you are," Alessandro said, leaning towards her .

Melody realised that as they had made their way down the Grand Canal, her shawl had slipped off her shoulders, exposing her décolletage again.

Alessandro turned and whispered in her ear in a seductive tone that made Melody shiver, "You look delicious in that dress, Miss Chesterton. Might I hope that you wore it hoping to entice me?"

Melody had no idea how to answer this, mainly because it was true. Just as she was deciding how coy to be, she felt Alessandro take one of the ringlets that hung loose over her shoulders and entwine his fingers in it, managing to stroke her shoulder as he did so.

This time, her shiver was noticeable, and Alessandro said in a low, sultry voice, "I think that you are not as innocent as you make out, Melody."

Her name sounded so delightful and yet shocking when said in the tone Alessandro was using. Melody knew that, by all rights, she should pull away and admonish him, but she found she was unable to do either. Instead, she found herself leaning towards Alessandro. He clearly noticed her movement, and Melody felt his hand rest more firmly on her shoulder, and then a finger began to trace its way down her arm. She let the shawl drop entirely, put her head back, and shuddered in a paroxysm of desire. Melody had never felt this way before. She wasn't sure what was happening, but she knew was that she didn't want Alessandro to stop.

Her neck was exposed, and Melody suddenly felt his lips gently brushing the delicate skin under her ear. Oh my! Now, she really felt out of her depth. Alessandro worked his way up her neck along her jawline with his butterfly kisses until he reached her face. Then, turning her head gently towards him, Alessandro kissed her lips.

Melody had been kissed twice before. Once was when she was fifteen, and she kissed her friend's sixteen-year-old brother as a dare, and the other time was recently, at a ball, when an over-eager suitor had managed to trap her in a dark corner of the ballroom. She still remembered how wet and unpleasant that kiss was before she managed to shove her suitor away and slap his face. Alessandro's kiss was nothing like that. It was slow and tender as his tongue gently prodded her lips open. As the kiss deepened, Melody found herself lost in its passion. At that point, anyone could have been watching, and she wouldn't have noticed or cared. All she knew was that Alessandro's arms were around her and, before she knew it, she was pulled onto his lap.

Melody knew for certain that this was the point when she should have stopped him, but she was unable to. Instead, she found herself wrapping her arms around his neck and tangling her hands in Alessandro's thick, dark hair. She felt that she might lose herself altogether to this man's kisses, happily abandoning propriety just to feel her skin next to his.

Melody's breath became ragged as Alessandro whispered in her ear, "I see you desire me as much as I do you, mio bellissimo tesoro. Mia cara. I had hoped that the prim, good little English debutante persona was just a facade. But I never imagined that beneath it was such a fiery temptress."

She knew that should have been the moment that she stopped him, if not earlier. His words should have been taken as an insult to her feminine virtue rather than a spur to her grasping of him even more passionately. However, Melody truly could not help herself. She was so beyond stopping Alessandro that she might have been prepared never to make him stop, no matter where he next placed his hand. In fact, she was so beyond reason that she pulled his head down to her chest, throwing her head back again in ecstasy as he began kissing along her neckline.

Melody didn't know a lot about conjugal relations between a man and a woman. Other debutantes would giggle as they whispered silly girlish statements about what they had heard from newly married friends and sisters, but Melody had never had much time for such things. She wasn't sure exactly what she was prepared to abandon herself to, but she knew how much she desired it, whatever it was.

Suddenly, the kisses stopped. Alessandro gently put his hands around her waist and placed her back on the seat next to him. He could see the hurt and confusion in her eyes as she wondered if she had done something wrong. Was that not how one was supposed to kiss? Did he find her behaviour too wanton?

Alessandro caressed her face and said in a tone both gentle and resigned, "I cannot do this, Melody. You are a maiden, not a woman of the world. It would not be right. As much as I want to."

"Do I not get a say?" Melody asked rather sullenly, unsure of what she was asking to have a say in.

Leaning over, Alessandro placed a gentle, avuncular kiss on her forehead. "No, you do not get a say because you do not understand what you are agreeing to." Melody had no answer to this.

They said very little on the return trip to the palazzo. As she exited the gondola, Melody caught Giovanni's eye and flushed with embarrassment. Somehow, she had forgotten that he was witness to her abandon. The gondolier kindly averted his gaze, prepared to pretend he witnessed nothing.

As he left her at the door to the palazzo, Alessandro kissed her forehead again and whispered very gently, his words caressing her ears, "Arrivederci, Mia Cara. Until we meet again."

Melody would have liked to have escaped to her bedroom without having to talk to anyone, but true to his word, Rat was waiting for her in the salotto. Luckily, she had the forethought to pull her shawl around her shoulders as she heard him coming to meet her.

"That was quicker than I expected," Rat observed. "You barely caught any moonlight."

"We watched the sunset," Melody said defensively. "It was beautiful."

"More to the point, was it useful?"

Melody indicated that he should follow her up to her bedroom. She found Mary there but sent her away so they could talk. In truth, she wasn't sure that the trip had been very productive, at least for the investigation. It was a given that she wouldn't be sharing what else happened in the gondola with Rat. She felt that she had failed in her task, giving in to passion when she was supposed to be conducting an interrogation. However, she felt that she had gleaned some information at least, though she wasn't sure how pertinent it was.

"Conte Foscari's father worked very hard to build up the business, determined to make it as diversified and resilient as possible. It seems very important to the conte that he honours his father's memory and life's work."

"Important enough to meddle in international affairs to aid his business ventures?" Rat asked.

Melody considered the question. "Perhaps," she answered hesitantly. "There is no doubt that Alessandro, I mean Conte Foscari, feels that it is his very personal mission to protect what his father built. The question is: how far would he go to do that?"

Even as Melody said this, she felt incredibly guilty for betraying Alessandro's trust. He had told her that in a rare moment of vulnerability and she had exploited that for the sake of the investigation. Was it always true that the ends justified the means? Or at least, was it true in this instance?

She had no more to tell Rat and was happy to retire for the night, confused, ashamed and yet aware that she felt more truly alive than she had in a long time.