In shock, Lucy looked from the man to the girl and back again. The new arrival laughed, assured Alex his Italian was no worse than his brother’s, and then switched to good English. An explanation followed from the two of them that stole everyone’s imagination—but none more than Lucy’s. Consulting hospital records, Alex had telephoned her father in Sydney weeks before to tell him of their plans for midsummer, and asked him to be here for his daughter. Alex assured her he’d declined with genuine regret; but the gently persuasive Dr. Stafford had coaxed some secrets from him for the sake of Lucy’s future peace, and an address was surrendered. Working quietly, without raising her hopes, he had tracked down the former Sofia King, living now in San Giuliano Terme in Tuscany and using her maiden name, Sofia Bassano. She had replied emotively to Alex; sent a photograph of herself and of her daughter, Laura, whom she believed must closely resemble her beautiful Lucy. She had been unable to marry Laura’s father since her former husband had persistently and maliciously blocked her divorce, and denied her all access to the child they shared. These twin factors had deepened the rift between them.

Alex’s reaction to the photo had been profound. He recognized a girl in a boat with tousled tresses of hip-length hair and a face close to Lucy’s. Somehow, his brother had briefly met her sister on a sunshine day off the coast of Syracuse. There was no more to the story—no untold tale to reveal besides the mystery of the meeting itself. But in Alex’s new landscape, the room for surprises had shrunk.

“Lucy, I promise, the more she tried to get to you, the more angry he became, and she was frightened he will take this out on you.” Laura’s words were accented, but distinct and fluent. Lucy felt it must have taken some courage to come alone to them all here; and she quietly embraced her unknown sibling.

The sisters wove languages together without finishing a sentence—too much to fit in for fluency. With Alex’s knowledge, Sofia was nervously planning to visit Lucy in London within the month; she had rehearsed the longed-for reunion for years, but didn’t want to eclipse her daughter’s most important day with tremulous dramas from their past.