I took Raphael’s arm to make the short walk back to the guesthouse. We were all returning to our rooms for an hour or two before meeting up later in the afternoon to take a carriage tour of the city. ‘Well, it’s not only eye colour you share with him, it’s charm, too.’
He laughed. ‘The girls were certainly won over. I can’t say I particularly recognised myself in him, though.’
I smiled. His words, of course, did not surprise me for I was well aware of how little he seemed to know himself, though I had some explanation for it at last. I decided I would speak to Luca. I knew he would see Lucia in their son. ‘You must be happy with the way he received you … and all of us?’
‘How could I not be? Especially seeing him look at Paolo in the way I had hoped Pa– Alessandro would.’
We climbed the
