“That was a pretty disgusting business,” Tina told him in the car as they drove out.

“Don’t be so disapproving,” he said lightly, laughing. “This is where Count Rivolonovo gets his things. Luluzzo is known all over and if we who appreciate this stuff didn’t pick it up, it would lie and molder in his storerooms. The ones to blame are the ignoramus priests.” He looked over at her and noticed the firm set of her lips. “Bambina mia,” he chided, reaching over to rub her cheek with the back of his hand, “what is it? Aren’t you enjoying yourself? You’re not in the same spirits as last night. I think we should head for the Ionian Sea before taking on Castagna; that will cheer you up.”

“I feel guilty about Jason,” she said glumly. “We made a pact to go to Castagna together.” Castagna had been their magic word. And now what was it? No more than what Ferruccio in his flippant manner called a hard nut to crack.

“I had a commitment to Jason,” she continued stubbornly, feeling unsporting, becoming a nuisance. Now that she was on the road with Ferruccio, why bring up the rest? Because she had a headache and an upset stomach and the flies and heat and look of Calabria was getting to her.

“As for commitments, mia cara,” Ferruccio was saying, “remember that nothing in life is irrevocable or conclusive.”

“That’s very handy,” she retorted. “Italians make everything relative! But there’s such a thing as one’s word being good.”

“Despite an Italian father I see you are more Anglo-Saxon than Latin in mentality.”

“You really mean more puritanical, don’t you? That’s what all Italians mean when they laugh at Americans for being uptight about commitments.”

“Well, are you so in love with the fellow after all? You must be, to be tormenting yourself like this.”

“That’s not the point. I don’t necessarily have to be in love with a person in order to keep my word.”

“Still, I think you are. Don’t worry—it makes it all the more interesting in the end.”

“Are you so cynical about everything?”

“Not about my food and wine; those, at least, must be absolutely dependable.”

The dry, lunar quality of the land, burned out and dusty, matched the dryness of his words. It was too late to repent her flight; she tried to piece together again why she had done it. She had seen what living with Duke led to; she didn’t want it to happen with Jason. She didn’t want to be put in her mother’s role before her own career was set, then ruin the lives of both Jason and herself.