Ariana stood to look outside at the tower across the lake. “So, how long were you married?”
“We were only together in the summer of 1952.”
Ariana’s eyes widened. “If you thought he was dead, does that mean you’re still married?”
“Yes, I believe that’s how it works.”
“Oh, wow.” Ariana twisted her hair as she spoke. “But why did you separate?”
“Sadly, it wasn’t by our choice,” Ruby said. “I had an aunt, Vivienne, who was my mother’s sister. She was duplicitous, and she came between us.”
“Why would she do that to you?”
Ruby sighed. “I suppose it was jealousy and just plain meanness. Unfortunately, Niccolò and I didn’t know it at the time. We were so young that we believed what people we trusted told us. We just pieced together what happened.”
“That’s shocking,” Ariana said, fussing with her curly hair.
“While I was waiting for him in Hollywood, we exchanged letters,” Ruby said, dabbing perfume on her wrists. “But those were intercepted.”
Ruby recalled how Vivienne would offer to mail her letters. The apartment building had locking mailboxes, and her aunt kept the only key. “When Niccolò came to Los Angeles, Aunt Vivienne told him I was no longer interested in him. Now we believe she stole our letters. I was shooting a film at the time, so I had no idea.”
As she spoke, Ruby tried to clasp a necklace, but her fingers were trembling. “I must wear this today. Can you help me?”
Ariana crossed to the vanity and fastened the silver necklace with ease. She gazed at Ruby in the mirror. “This looks old. Did Niccolò give you this pendant?”
“No, but it has great meaning to me,” Ruby said. “Audrey Hepburn gave it to me one day on the film set. A little while later, Niccolò and I were married with it.” She nestled the cherished pendant in the neckline of her blouse. “We married on a whim. You see, it’s half of a heart, and he kept the other half.”
Ariana placed her hands over Ruby’s shoulders. “Have you always loved him?”
Ruby touched Ariana’s hand. “Yes, I have. Niccolò is a good man. And so is his nephew, I think.”
“I can hardly believe Alessandro and Niccolò are related,” Ariana said.
Ruby smiled. “That’s some sort of divine destiny, I think. Would you bring me the taupe flats from my closet?”
“Sure.” Ariana disappeared into the closet before returning with a pair of shoes. “What do you think you’ll do about Niccolò now?”
Ruby slid her feet into the comfortable flats and stood. She had never imagined that Niccolò might reappear. When she was younger, she’d handled his absence by working incessantly and occupying her mind. And now, here he was. Yet how he would receive the news about Mari remained to be seen. “We’ll wait and see. Now, I shouldn’t keep Niccolò waiting any longer.”
Niccolò greeted her with a bouquet of white roses that Livia put in a vase and promised to put in her bedroom. In the light of day, Ruby thought he looked even more handsome. After Niccolò and Ariana chatted for a few minutes, Niccolò suggested that he and Ruby catch the next ferry to Varenna, just as they had years ago. Ariana saw them off, and Ruby could tell that she was thrilled for her. Ruby kissed her on the cheeks as they left.
As they stepped onto the ferry boat, Niccolò grinned. “We did this on our wedding day. Do you recall?”
“I haven’t forgotten a thing. Even that pot of red geraniums on the stage the other night. At the Palazzo Colonna, you plucked a flower and tucked it behind your ear.”
He threw his head back and laughed. “Only you knew the story behind that.”
Ruby leaned against the ferry railing next to Niccolò, enjoying the crisp lake breeze on her sun-warmed face. The past and present were fitting together like parts of a lost puzzle. They held hands, with Ruby’s slender fingers resting in Niccolò’s large, weathered hand that felt so secure, yet still sent thrills through her. More than anything, she’d missed having a deep connection with him.
As they drew closer to Varenna, the stone bell tower of Chiesa di San Giorgio came into view, and Niccolò kissed her forehead. Lightly, with respect.
“I remember that perfume you’re wearing,” he said. “It’s Violetta di Parma.”
Ruby smiled, touched that he’d recalled that small detail. “You gave me a little bottle in Rome.” They made their way to the line of people queued to get off in Varenna.
“Do you remember walking this way?” Niccolò asked as they disembarked.
Ruby rested her hand on his proffered hand and stepped off the boat, her white silk skirt printed with butterflies fluttering in the breeze. “I fixed every detail in my mind. I even found the café in Bellagio where we had our wedding dinner. It’s still operating.”
Niccolò’s brow shot up. “Do you know Lorenzo Pagani?”
“Why, yes,” Ruby said, surprised that Niccolò knew him, too. “I saw the flyer for your show in the window there. And Ariana just leased the space next door for a boutique.”
“You see, we were destined to meet again,” Niccolò said, placing a hand over his heart. “And Alessandro is very much in love with Ariana. While they haven’t known each other very long, sometimes you just know it’s right.”
Ruby smiled up at him. “We were proof of that. If we’d remained together, do you think we would have lasted?”
“Let’s say yes.” Niccolò’s eyes still twinkled with laughter, and his voice had aged to a golden baritone. “If I met you today for the first time, I’d still fall in love with you.”
“I think I might, too,” she said softly. She tucked her arm in the crook of his elbow, and they set off on cobblestone streets toward the church.
As they walked, the years fell away. Time had been kind to him. Sunshine glinted off his silver hair, and the lines in his face were products of happiness rather than worry. They wound slowly through the streets, bringing each other up to date on their lives. Niccolò congratulated her on her films and career, and she asked him about his family.
“My parents, of course, have long been gone.” Niccolò shook his head. “I will never forget that night we told them we were married. How many times I have replayed that in mind, wishing we had never told them and fled for America instead.”
“That wouldn’t have been the right thing to do, either,” Ruby said. As they talked about it, the distance of time blurred the hurtful edges, and Ruby understood his parents’ fear of losing their eldest son.
“Have you lived a happy life?” she asked, wanting to know more about the man who walked beside her now.
“Not as happy as it would have been with you,” Niccolò replied. “I feared you’d quickly outgrown me. I watched you from afar and wondered what I could offer you after you’d grown accustomed to meeting princes and dignitaries.”
“I hope you grew out of that,” Ruby said, reaching for his hand.
Niccolò nodded. “While that boy of eighteen is still within me, the wiser man now prevails. He knows that true love has no valuation, no measurement, no comparison. There is only love.” He brought her hand to his and kissed it.