“I’m not using the pass while you are still here,” he said. “Do you want us both to die of cold and disease because of your stubbornness?” His voice softened. “Please go. I’ve given you enough pain in life. Let me at least do this for you.”

“You have not given me pain. You have given me more happiness than you can ever know. Angelo was the best thing that ever happened to me. And you—I can’t tell you how much having you in my life has meant to me.”

He reached a hand through the barbed wire. “You are the love of my life. I will find you, I promise, wherever you are. And after the war we will go somewhere together—Australia, America—and make a new and happy life.”

I reached my own hand through and our fingertips just touched.

“And Angelo?”

“I’m afraid we must leave him where he is. He is, after all, the heir. There must always be an heir, and if I desert my post, it is up to my son. But you and I, we will have more children, won’t we?”

“Oh yes,” I said.

“I won’t say goodbye, amore mio. I will say arrivederci, au revoir, auf Wiedersehen . . . until we meet again. Stay strong. My love goes with you.”

He mouthed a kiss. I mouthed one back. His fingertips brushed mine one last time. Then I turned and walked away.

Switzerland, November 21

I made it to Stresa with no problem, but I couldn’t find a boatman willing to risk his life for me. I had decided I would have to make my way to Switzerland through the mountains on foot. A daunting prospect. But then there was a rainstorm. Everyone was sheltering behind closed shutters. I dared to steal a rowboat and set off as the rain pounded down on me. I rowed all night, until my hands were blistered, and at first light I sheltered under a willow tree. Luck was with me. It kept raining, so there was very little traffic on the lake. I kept baling out the boat and rowing, and on the third morning I saw the sun gleaming on snowy peaks ahead of me. I had reached the head of Lake Maggiore. I was in Switzerland.

CHAPTER 46

CHAPTER 46

Juliet, December 1945