“After living near the vineyards of the Napa Valley in California all these years, I doubt a spot like this holds much enchantment for you. I guess I should be thanking you for letting our wedding take place here instead of the cathedral in Voti. Now, will you please go so I can finish getting ready?”
* * *
Christina was still her vulnerable self. Antonio stopped the teasing for a minute. “If it’s any solace to you, I’m sorry for the position I’ve put you in.”
After a long silence she said in a defeated tone, “Don’t worry about it.” He heard a sadness in her voice. “To be honest, it isn’t as if I’ve had any other offers.”
Her comment revealed a little of her conflict, the same conflict torturing him. There was a part of him that wanted to be crazy in love. If only he’d been an ordinary man like his best man, Zach, who could marry the woman who’d captured his heart. To choose a bride his heart wanted had never been a possibility.
When he thought about Christina, he realized she was having similar feelings that increased his guilt, but he couldn’t dwell on that right now. It was too late for regrets. They would be married within the hour and he intended to be a good husband to her.
“Just remember we’re doing this for Elena,” he reminded her, hoping it would help her spirits. “She’ll be up in a minute to escort you to the chapel.” His eyes closed tightly for a moment. “Would it help if I told you I admire you more than any other woman I know?” It was the truth.
“Actually it wouldn’t,” she came back. “Thousands of women have entered into political union s disguised as marriage. We thought our engagement wouldn’t last long. I thought that after four years you would fly to Africa and tell me in person we didn’t have to go through with it.”
“I’m afraid that wasn’t our destiny, Christina. Everything has escalated out of control, the paparazzi have driven things to a higher pitch. Father’s chief assistant, Guido, had me on the phone, urging me to marry you as soon as possible. The people are fed up with my parents. They want our marriage to take place for the good of the monarchy, reminding me of the danger of an abolished royal family if we wait.”
“I know. That’s because they want you for their king, and you need a queen. I understand that, but I’d rather you didn’t start using meaningless platitudes with me.”
“I was complimenting you,” he asserted.
“I’m glad we could help preserve Elena’s reputation along with your family’s, but I don’t want compliments. Your sister is doing much better these days and has a boyfriend who treats her well. Let’s be happy for that and avoid any unnecessary pretense.”
Antonio had come to the bridal suite already deeply immersed in troubled thoughts about their forthcoming marriage. Her last remark only added to his anxiety. He put the small velvet-lined box at the foot of the bed. After closing the doors quietly behind him, he left the bridal suite and walked down the corridor to the staircase of the three-storied palazzo.
Zach, his best friend, would be waiting for him in the bedroom just off the staircase of the second floor. By now some hundred and fifty guests had arrived for the ceremony, including his parents and their entourage. The small wedding Christina wanted had grown to royal proportions. It had been inevitable.
Antonio had met Christina when he went to Switzerland many times to visit his younger sister at boarding school. She always asked if her roommate, Christina, could come along with them when they went out for fondue au fromage or took the ferry to see the sights around Lake Geneva.
Though Antonio thought of Christina as his sister’s pudgy friend, he’d found her sensible and soft-spoken, and probably the sweetest girl he’d ever met. That favorable impression of her grew deep roots when she’d phoned him in the middle of the night about Elena four years ago.
His sister had needed help because she and her loser addict boyfriend had been hauled off to jail on drug possession. Her boyfriend had been arrested and charged. What if Elena was next to be tainted with a jail record?
The paparazzi would have blown his sister’s mistake into a royal scandal that would do great damage to the already damaged royal family. Antonio’s parents hadn’t been in favor with the country for a long time and were constantly being criticized in the press for their profligate ways.
In order to keep Elena’s latest scandalous affair out of the news, Antonio had to think of something quick to take the onus off his wayward younger sister. Thankful beyond words for Christina’s swift intervention with that phone call, he was able to turn things around and had talked her into entering into a mock engagement with him to create a new piece of news.