The Sin of Cynara Read Free

transferred to the child which Cynara's affair with her husband had brought into the world.
      'Come along, Buster, sit down at the table and we'll have something nice to eat.'
      His attention was on the doves that strutted around the tables searching for crumbs, but at the mention of food he came and scrambled on to a chair. 'Ice-cream,' he said, with a coaxing smile, 'with chocolate sauce?'
      'Not for breakfast, caro.' And when the waiter came out to them she asked if they could have one coffee, one glass of warm sweet milk, soft-boiled eggs, bread, butter and marmalade.
      Si, they could have all that, and something called marmellata which was made by the monks out of figs and apricots. 'E bella!' he assured her, and he stared at her with bold eyes, for the sun was playing over her blonde hair, braided at the crown of her head and revealing the slim whiteness of her neck where a little silver coin rested on a chain in the pool of her throat. Her dress was of white and grey, and it made her look as sedate as a young novice.
      But cool as she outwardly looked Carol hadn't forgotten how disturbing the eyes of Italian men could be, for there was no shyness or constraint in the way they looked at a woman.
      Carol hadn't bothered in the past five years to have anything to do with men and had devoted herself to Teri. Consequently she had almost forgotten that her combination of very fair hair and grey-violet eyes could have a certain effect on men who were totally opposite in colouring — the last man to tell her she was attractive was Vincenzo, and she had coldly replied that he no longer had the power to turn her head with his Latin flattery.
      But she wasn't the only one to notice the waiter's preoccupation with her hair. 'She's my mummy !' Teri suddenly cried out, and jumping off his chair he ran round to Carol and buried his face against her, hugging her with fierce young arms.
      'What a big bambino,' the waiter scoffed, and quirking an eyebrow at Carol he strolled off into the café to fetch their breakfast.
      'Now don't be silly, Buster.' Carol kissed the top of Teri's head. 'We're going to have eggs and soldiers, and you like those.'
      'That man was looking all over you.' Teri pouted, unaccustomed to men because they very rarely came into the Copper Jug, and already precocious enough to recognize the light of admiration in a rival's eye. He lifted a hand and stroked her hair, which he alone knew was incredibly long and shining when let down out of the thick braids. It came past the curve of Carol's spine, and was her only true vanity. Both she and Cynara had the same hair, but her sister cut hers long ago and wore it in a glossy pageboy style. But there was an element of the old-fashioned girl in Carol and she liked having long hair. Teri loved it and would sometimes brush it for her, and call it her serpent's tail, curling it around her slender body with husky giggles.
      There was a shadow of doubt in Teri's heart and mind that she was his 'mummy', and there were times when Carol grew frightened in case he ever learned the truth.
      'Come on, be my big man and sit down to have your breakfast. We can't be here all day, remember. We have to get that boat, caro.'
      'The boat !' He clapped his hands with anticipation, for boats were one of his passions. Then, after planting a kiss on Carol's neck, he returned to his seat and grinned across the table at her. Such huge eyes, she thought, fringed by lashes exactly like his father's. She sighed deep in her heart ... how different life could have been if Vincenzo had lived up to his promises and her hopes. Instead he had ruined her dreams with all the carelessness of a selfish, half-grown boy, and in so doing he had broken himself on the wheel of pleasure.
      'Don't look sad, Cally!'
      She smiled at Teri, the son of her virginal marriage. 'I'm just a bit anxious, caro. I hope your daddy's people like us.'
      'If they don't, Cally, then we'll go to Rome