Her face contorted again.
‘No. No.’
‘You are my wife, and Ben is my adopted son, and no one—no power on earth—will take you from me.’
She twisted her hands in his grip.
‘No,’ she cried again. Her eyes were anguished. ‘You mustn’t say that. I won’t let you. I won’t. You’ve got to go now. Right now.’
He gave a sudden laugh, gripping her hands more tightly yet.
‘What a venal woman you are,’ he said. ‘You only want me for my title, don’t you?’ His fingers slid into hers. ‘Well, I’ve bad news for you, Signora Ceraldi—’
‘Don’t say that. Just go. It’s not too late.’
He hauled her against him, crushing her against the hard wall of his chest.
‘It’s far too late. Far, far too late.’
He kissed her.
The kiss went on and on. And she drowned in it. Drowned in his arms. Drowned in the tears pouring from her.
‘Mummy—Mummy?’
A little hand was tugging at her arm. Ben’s voice was confused, bewildered. Rico half let her go. He swept Ben to him.
‘Now, tell me—tell me true.’ He stood him up in the crook of his arm, hugging his little body close to him. His other arm was wrapped tight around Lizzy. ‘Which would you rather? Me not at all—or me not as a prince but still you and me and Mummy?’
‘Would you go away again?’ Ben asked.
Rico shook his head. ‘Never. Unless you came with me. I might go sometimes—just to work, that sort of thing—maybe for the day or a few days. But you would live with me, and so would Mummy. Would that be any good?’
‘Where would we all live?’
‘Anywhere you liked. Well, except in a palace.’
‘I want to live here and at the holiday house with the swimming pool,’ Ben stipulated. ‘With you and Mummy. For ever and ever.’
‘Done,’ said Rico. ‘High five says yes.’
Ben gave him a high five. ‘Yes,’ he shouted. ‘Yes, yes, yes.’
His little face was alight—alight with joy.
Lizzy’s face was wet with tears.
‘You can’t do this. You just can’t,’ she sobbed.
Rico’s arm tightened around her shaking shoulders.
‘Too late,’ he told her. ‘Done deal.’ He kissed her forehead softly. ‘Done deal, Signora Ceraldi.’ His eyes gazed into hers. Deep, deep eyes. ‘Now, don’t go and tell me it was just the royal bit you fell for?’ His voice was admonishing. ‘My ego won’t take it, you know. It really won’t.’
She swallowed, hard. ‘Ben—’ her voice was shaky ‘—why not start on that station now? Tio Rico and I need to talk. Boring grown-up stuff.’
‘OK,’ said Ben.
His world was restored. Happily, he scrambled back onto the sand and started scooping it up to shape into a railway station. Carefully, very carefully, Lizzy undraped herself and pulled away, to the far edge of the rug.