Two Women in Rome by Elizabeth Buchan

Author:Elizabeth Buchan [Buchan, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atlantic Books

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

LOTTIE CAUGHT A LATE-AFTERNOON TRAIN TO SETTEBAGNI, alighted and walked up a street lined with small food shops and cafés. The hibiscus was in full flower, jasmine threaded through iron railings and an umbrella pine reared up at the end of the thoroughfare. It struck Lottie that her one-sided acquaintance with Nina had borne fruit. She was beginning to take notice of flowers and shrubs.

A man, whom she took to be Signor Livardo, was settled at a window table in the Caffè Alighieri. Stocky, wearing a checked short-sleeved shirt and baggy trousers, he looked amiable enough. At Lottie’s arrival, he stood upright and extended his hand.

They exchanged greetings. On sitting down, Lottie was subjected to an inspection so penetrating that she revised her impression of his being amiable. She asked: ‘The signora?’

He raised both hands. ‘Scusate. My wife had to attend her cousin at the last minute. She’s not well. They are close and need each other.’

Lottie would have bet good money that he had never mentioned this meeting to his wife.

They settled on an early-evening aperitivo. As an opening gambit, she produced her business card and handed it to him over the table. He placed it in his shirt pocket.

She studied him. Someone – his wife – ensured that his hair was well cut, his eyebrows trimmed and his shirt impeccably ironed.

‘You wish to talk about the English signorina? She was a very nice woman. Very nice nature. Always helpful. A good woman. She and my wife were friends. Good friends. They … we … helped each other. We were shocked. Very shocked.’ He let a pause elapse before adding, ‘But, you know, these things in the past … they really should be left there.’

The aperitivo was served, along with a bowl of heavily salted crisps. Signor Livardo took a large handful. The crisps were soon a memory and a crumb lingered on his chin. Lottie sipped her drink, taking in as much detail as she could without alarming him. He drank and ate and greeted acquaintances, giving off every appearance of a man who enjoyed retired life.

She pushed an enlarged copy of the passport photo towards him. ‘Is this Nina Lawrence?’

He made a play of dusting salt off his fingers and looked everywhere but at the photograph.

‘Signore?’

The slight widening of his nostrils as he studied it informed Lottie that it must be Nina. To be sure, she produced a similarly enlarged copy of the Lake Walkers and placed it beside the first one. ‘Is this Nina?’ At first he tried to deny it but changed his mind. ‘Sí.’

‘The smaller girl with dark hair?’

He slid the photograph back to Lottie. ‘I don’t know who the other people are.’

She waited patiently.

‘My relationship with the Signorina Lawrence was formal,’ he said. ‘Not friendly. It was my wife who knew her best.’ He retrieved her card from his pocket and read it. ‘I had to be careful with the women lodgers.’ He shrugged. ‘You will understand …’ The gesture was intended to include Lottie in a collegiate conspiracy.

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