A Shadow of Guilt(54)

Gio looked pale and he threw the rest of his coffee back in one gulp before turning to place the cup in the sink.

Valentina put down her own cup and addressed Gio’s obviously tense back. ‘Where did Mario die?’

He stilled and then he turned around and looked so haunted and bleak for a moment that Valentina quivered inwardly. ‘Valentina …’ His voice was a hoarse plea.

‘Please … I need to know.’ To her surprise, she didn’t feel angry or resentful. She just desperately needed to know.

As if sensing her intractability Gio moved towards a back door and opened it. Valentina followed to see that it led out to a small herb garden. Obviously the housekeeper’s. Gio was holding out a scuffed pair of runners and saying tightly, ‘These might fit, they’re Eloisa’s.’

Valentina took them, avoiding Gio’s eyes, and slipped them on. They were a size too big, but fine for now. Valentina had to trot to keep up with Gio as he strode down a path with bushes on either side. Somewhere in the distance she could hear the whinny of a horse.

When they emerged at the bottom of the path the estate was laid out before them. Valentina came to stand beside Gio and saw the vast stables down to their left, surrounded by cypress trees. To the right of that were huge rolling green paddocks, incongruous against the more rocky and bare Siclian landscape and no doubt carefully maintained by Gio’s gardeners.

From what she remembered the gallops where Mario had died were behind the stables but she couldn’t see them from here. Gio turned to face her, his jaw tight. ‘The gallops are gone, Valentina. I got rid of them … after …’ His voice trailed off.

She looked up at him. ‘What’s there now?’

Gio ran a hand through his hair, reluctance oozing from every taut muscle in his body. ‘A garden … I got them to cover it over with a garden.’

Determined now, Valentina crossed her arms. ‘I want to see it.’

‘Why? Valentina—it won’t serve any purpose….’

She touched his arm then and felt him tense to her touch which sent a cold shiver down her spine. ‘Please, Gio … I need to see this.’

After a long tense moment he took his arm from under her hand and turned and stalked onwards. For the first time since they’d met again Valentina had a glimpse of another side of Gio. Cold, inscrutable. She shivered slightly when she imagined the dynamic between them being very different.

They went down past the stables where lots of curious horses’ heads peeped out. Valentina thought she recognised Misfit, who whinnied softly, but she wasn’t sure. A couple of stable hands passed them by but they were obviously put off by Gio’s expression and scurried on. Valentina only realised then that she was still dressed in Gio’s oversize clothes and felt her face flame as she hurried to keep up with him.

He’d stopped before she realised it and she crashed into his back. He put out a hand to steady her but she noticed how quickly he took it away again and felt a dart of hurt. They’d come through an arbour of some sort and were standing in a huge walled garden. Valentina was taking it all in and noticed that Gio was standing on the edge of an elaborate green structure, about a foot high. Valentina came to stand beside him and frowned. ‘It’s a maze.’

Gio’s voice was tight. ‘It’s a labyrinth. The one path which leads in also leads back out.’ She heard him take a breath. ‘Mario told me about them once … he’d always been fascinated by them.’

Valentina had a vague memory of Mario mentioning something about them now too.

Gio said from beside her, ‘I’ll leave you.’

And then he was gone. She could hear him striding away again. It was almost too huge to take in—the fact that there now existed a walled garden where the gallops had been, and then this … labyrinth. Valentina was standing at the entrance and slowly started to walk the path.

It was a curiously meditative experience. Every time she thought she was coming close to the centre of the labyrinth, the path would diverge far away again. She felt exasperated at first until she realised that this was undoubtedly part of the process. She was surprised when she finally found herself stumbling into the centre at last. It was so unexpectedly peaceful that she stood there for long minutes.

She knew her parents would be incredibly emotional to see what Gio had done in Mario’s name. And she? Like a coward, Valentina didn’t want to explore deeper than the peace she felt right then. Her emotions were far too close to the surface as it was, ambiguous and volatile.