Page 34 of Palazzo
“Are you staying in Venice?” Olivier asked her.
“No, I’ll be back tomorrow night.” She was tired of staying at the hotel, and preferred to come home to her own bed, since the family no longer owned the palazzo.
“Call me when you come home, and try not to worry about Allegra. I think this will be good for her, for both of them. They’re very mature and responsible. Basile is much more stable and sensible than I was at his age.”
“Allegra said they’re not rushing into marriage. People don’t these days. And I certainly never did.” She laughed. In love with a married man, she had missed the boat on that, but didn’t regret it. A husband might have interfered with her running the family business, which she would have hated. Even Gian Battista had expressed opinions she didn’t agree with at times. Married, he might have been more insistent about it, but he never had been, in the situation they were in. They were just grateful for the time they could spend together, and he respected her independence, since he couldn’t offer her marriage or children. There were many women in her situation in a country that had forbidden divorce for so long and made it so difficult even once it was allowed. The Church was a powerful influence, as it was in many countries in Europe, and in Italy longer than in most, with the strong hand of the Vatican in the country’s politics.
—
Cosima went to Venice the next day as planned, which was an easy trip. She changed some of the displays, and made some suggestions about the lighting. She watched several transactions and was satisfied by how the staff were handling them. And before she left for the airport, she took a walk, and without planning it she found herself standing outside the garden of the Palazzo Saverio, and was surprised to see that there was construction going on. Not a lot. The palazzo wasn’t covered by scaffolding, but there were a handful of workmen going in and out, and she noticed a new young foreman. He looked familiar and she realized that he was the grandson of Tomaso, who had retired when she sold.
She greeted him, and he recognized her too. She asked for hisgrandfather, and the young man said he was happy in his sleepy little beach town and went fishing every day. She hadn’t heard anything about Guillermo in Sicily.
“Is the new owner remodeling the palazzo?” she asked, curious, and it tugged at her heart a little to see it. The realtor had said he planned to do it over time, and wasn’t in a hurry.
“Not yet. They’re just repairing the fire damage. We had to replace the floors, they were raised and cracking all over the main floor and getting worse,” he informed her. “And they’re bringing the moldings back to the original. They’ve done a good job so far, and the electricity is being rewired, so it’s safe now. They’re doing it all pretty slowly,” the young man commented.
“Have you met the new owner?” He shook his head.
“He never comes here. It all goes through a lawyer. I don’t think he’s planning to come anytime soon. There’s no furniture, and everything needs to be repainted and cleaned up before he can come. It’s only the fire damage for now, and whatever wasn’t safe.” So he was a responsible owner at least. Cosima wondered if he would ever come there, or just clean the palazzo up enough to sell it, which was a possibility too. She hated to think of it changing hands again, instead of being owned by a family who loved it, but she had no control of it now. But oddly, standing there talking to the new young caretaker, it still felt like home. The same roses were still in the garden, and she felt as though she could walk through the front door and find things as they were, although some of her things were in storage and the rest had been thrown away after the fire. “Do you want to come in?” he offered, and she shook her head. She felt like she would be trespassing, and she didn’t want to see it empty now.She had her memories, as Gian Battista had said, and that was enough. She thanked the young man and left, and a few minutes later she took a water taxi on the canal, and watched the Palazzo Saverio disappear behind her, slipping back into the past. Her present and her future were now in Rome.
She mentioned seeing the house when she talked to Olivier that night.
“How did it feel?” he asked her gently. He was very sensitive about the things he knew were painful for her.
“Weirdly, it still felt like home, even though it belongs to someone else. My guardian’s grandson is working for the new owner now. He says they’re only repairing the fire damage, and doing it very slowly. I guess they’re in no rush to use it. The Qatari probably has ten homes all over the world, and the palazzo isn’t high on the list.” And repairs took a long time in Venice. Workmen were often slow and unreliable, and there was no one to supervise, except her guardian’s grandson, who was in his twenties, but seemed very efficient.
“Do you miss it?” he asked her.
“I try not to,” she said. “As Gian Battista said, I have my memories, that’s enough.” It would have to be now, the Palazzo Saverio was out of her life forever. Her brother appeared to be too. She had heard nothing from him since his arrest and imprisonment. She wondered if she’d ever hear from him or see him again. And now Allegra was leaving. It was a time of change. She was grateful she had the business to keep her busy, and Olivier to keep her warm on weekends. She preferred to see the glass as half full rather than half empty, which was Olivier’s philosophy about life too. He was coming back to Rome that weekend, as he did every week now.
Chapter 14
The time flew until Christmas with everything Cosima had to do. Allegra was busy too, training two assistants to do the more menial part of her job. She would do the rest from Paris, as she’d promised.
The prototypes of her bags that she had approved were being produced in Santa Croce sull’Arno. And she was getting organized to move to Paris after Christmas. Every weekend she went to Paris now and brought more of her things to leave at Basile’s apartment. He couldn’t wait for her to move in. His building had an elevator that made it easily accessible for her.
In January, they were going to start working on the pop-up store, where they would showcase the collaboration bags, and Allegra’s new line, named after her. They were going to be dizzyingly busy after that until Fashion Week in Paris at the beginning of March. Allegra’s line was going to be Paris-based, and the collaboration bags were being produced by Bayard in Santa Croce and their factory outside Paris, under Olivier’s careful scrutiny, so it was appropriateto show the bags during Paris Fashion Week. And Cosima was doing another concept store in Milan for Saverio’s line, for Fashion Week there before Paris. It was always a month of madness for anyone in fashion with Fashion Week in New York, London, Milan, and finally Paris, but they were used to it. Basile was working frantically, preparing paintings for his gallery show at the same time.
—
Olivier and Basile joined them in Rome for Christmas, since they had no other family either, and after Christmas, Allegra would fly to Paris with Basile, to move into his apartment officially. Olivier was staying to spend New Year’s with Cosima in Rome, which was always fun and very festive.
Cosima sent a basket of food and all the things that were acceptable for Luca to receive at the prison for Christmas. She sent him a warm sweater, some books, cigarettes, and as much food as they would allow, including all his favorite things to eat. He didn’t respond or acknowledge the gifts, but she wanted him to have as decent a Christmas as he could in prison. She signed it all from her and Allegra.
She gave Allegra a beautiful warm cashmere coat for Christmas, and framed all the photographs she could find and duplicate of their parents, and herself, Allegra, and Luca when they were children, and some more recent ones. Allegra was thrilled when she opened them. She gave Cosima an antique gold heart-shaped locket, with a photograph of her and Cosima, and Cosima put it on immediately and swore she’d wear it every day. It was going to be hard for the two sisters to separate for the first time in their lives. Olivier was awareof how difficult it would be for Cosima, and Allegra tried to hide her elation to be moving in with Basile. Olivier was having some accommodations built for her in Basile’s apartment, so it would be easier for her.
When Allegra and Basile left two days after Christmas, Olivier surprised Cosima with a three-day trip to London to distract her. They stayed at Claridge’s, went to the theater, ate at fancy restaurants, visited museums, and went shopping. It was the perfect boost to her spirits, and he had given her a pair of wide gold cuffs with sapphires and diamonds on them, which were antique Cartier and as chic as she was. He had impeccable taste and knew what she liked.
“You made all my dreams come true this year,” he said. “I never thought a year ago that I’d be doing a collaboration with Saverio, or would ever meet you.” He was making her dreams come true and had turned her gently from the past toward the future. She was excited about everything they were going to be doing in Paris during Fashion Week, only two months away.
—
Cosima went to Paris two weeks before Fashion Week started to get the pop-up store ready. She was amazed at how much Allegra had already done with Basile’s help. There was a crew painting Cosima’s side of the store in a pale blush pink that Allegra had selected. And on the wall behind Allegra’s side, Basile was going to paint a mural of his street art. Allegra had her own logo by then, and the bags were ready. And Cosima had shipped what she would be selling from Rome. She had chosen everything carefully.
Olivier insisted on showing her the shop on the FaubourgSaint-Honoré that he thought would be perfect for her if she decided to open a Saverio store in Paris. She still hadn’t made up her mind. It was a beautiful store in the perfect location, with wood-paneled walls and an elegant staircase, nestled between the best jewelers in Paris, with Chanel, Givenchy, Saint-Laurent, and even Hermès right down the street. If she was going to open in Paris, it would be the ideal place. Olivier was right. He didn’t tell her, but he had put down a deposit to hold it until she made up her mind. A store like that would be snapped up immediately by one of the luxury brands. As a wholesaler, he didn’t have a street-level store, but his ultramodern showroom was one of the most impressive in Paris.
Cosima was happy to see Sally Johnson in Paris. She was there with her stores’ chief buyers. Sally had always been very involved in the Johnson and Dean stores, and was even more so now since Bill’s death. She had lost some weight and looked well. She had heard that the palazzo had been sold and said that it would break her heart to see it again.
