‘Ally! That’s fantastic! Do let me know, won’t you?’

‘Of course I will.’

I was just about to question her further when Marina came out onto the terrace. ‘Maia, chérie, I didn’t know you were home until I saw Claudia just now. Christian gave me this earlier. Then, with Ally arriving unexpectedly, I’m afraid I forgot to give it to you.’ Marina handed me an envelope. I looked down at the writing and recognised it instantly as Floriano’s.

‘Thank you, Ma.’

‘Will you two girls be wanting supper?’ she asked us.

‘If there’s any going, absolutely. Maia?’ Ally looked at me. ‘Will you join me? It’s not often we get the chance for a catch-up these days.’

‘Yes, of course,’ I said, standing up. ‘But if you don’t mind, ‘I’m going back to the Pavilion for a while.’

The two women looked at me and the letter knowingly.

‘See you later, chérie,’ said Marina.

Back at the Pavilion, my fingers trembling, I opened the envelope.

I drew out a piece of tatty paper that looked as if it had been hastily torn from a notepad.

On the boat

Lake Geneva

13th July 2007

Mon amour Maia,

I write to you in what you know is my bad French, and although I cannot be poetic in the language the way that Laurent Brouilly was to Izabela, the feeling behind the words is just the same. (And forgive the bad writing, the launch is a little bumpy across the water.) Chérie, I understood your distress this morning and wished to comfort you, but perhaps you still struggle to trust me. So I will tell you in writing that I love you. And even though we have spent such a short time together so far, I believe our story has only just begun. If you’d stayed with me long enough this morning before I left, I would have told you that I wish more than anything for you to come to be with me in Rio. So we can eat burnt bean stew, sip undrinkable wine and dance the samba together every night of our lives. It is a lot to ask of you, I know, for you to give up your life in Geneva and come to me here. But, just as Izabela had a child to think of, so do I. And Valentina needs her family close. Certainly for now, at least.

I will leave you to think about it, for it is a big decision. But please, I’d be grateful if you could put me out of my misery sooner rather than later. Tonight is too long to wait, but, under the circumstances, will be acceptable.

Also, I enclose the soapstone tile. My friend at the museum finally managed to decipher the quotation that Izabela wrote for Laurent.

Love knows not distance;
It hath no continent;
Its eyes are for the stars.

Goodbye for now. I’ll wait to hear.

Floriano X

Ally

July 2007