"Come into the garden," Eduardo said. "We will have lunch in a little while, but in the meantime, would you like some refreshment?*
"Perhaps some iced tea," Stone said. Dino remained silent. Eduardo ushered them through French doors into a large, enclosed courtyard, which had been beautifully planted, and showed them to comfortable chairs. Unbidden, a servant appeared with pitchers of iced drinks, and they were served.
"First of all, I must clear the air," Eduardo said. "I quite understand that you may be very attached to your own house; I would not impose mine on you."
Stone was once again astonished at Eduardo's apparently extrasensory intuition. "Thank you, Eduardo. It was a magnificent offer, but you are quite right-I am very attached to my own house. It is much caught up with my family's history in New York. Fortunately, Dolce has consented to live there."
"She is a smart girl," Eduardo said, smiling slightly. "I would have been disappointed in her, if she had begun her marriage by attempting to move her husband from a home he loves."
"I expect she will find my taste in interior decoration inadequate, and I have steeled myself for the upheaval."
"You are smart, too," Eduardo said. He turned to his son-in-law. "Dino, how goes it among New York's finest?"
"Still the finest," Dino replied.
"Are you arresting many innocent Italian-American businessmen these days?" Eduardo asked impishly.
"There aren't many left," Dino said. "We've already rehoused most of them upstate."
Eduardo turned back to Stone. "Dino disapproves of my family's former colleagues," he said. "But he is an honest policeman, and there are not many of those. Many of his other colleagues have also been 'rehoused upstate,' as he so gracefully puts it. Dino has my respect, even if he will not accept my affection."
"Eduardo," Dino said, spreading his hands, "when I have retired, I will be yours to corrupt."
Eduardo laughed aloud, something Stone had never heard him do. "Dino will always be incorruptible," Eduardo said. "But I still have hopes of his friendship." Eduardo glanced toward the French doors and stood up.
Stone and Dino stood with him. A tall, thin man with wavy salt-and-pepper hair was approaching. He wore a black blazer with gold buttons, grey silk trousers, and a striped shirt, open at the neck, where an ascot had been tied.
"Carmen," Eduardo said, "may I present my son-in-law, Dino Bacchetti."
To Stone's astonishment, Dino bowed his head and kissed the heavy ring on the man's right hand.
"And this is my son-in-law-to-be, Stone Barrington."
The man extended his hand, and Stone shook it. "Your Eminence," he said, "how do you do?"
"Quite well, thank you, Stone." Bellini held onto Stone's hand and stared into his face. "He has good eyes, Eduardo," he said to Bianchi.
Stone was surprised that the cardinal spoke with an American accent.
"My son," Bellini said to Stone, "it is my understanding that you are not a Roman Catholic."
"I am a believer, Your Eminence," Stone said, "but not a registered one."
Bellini laughed and waved them to their seats. He accepted a fruit juice from the servant, then reached into an inside pocket and took out a thick, white envelope sealed with red wax, and handed it to Eduardo. "Here is the necessary dispensation," he said. "The Holy Father sends his greetings and his blessing."
"Thank you, Carmen," Eduardo said, accepting the envelope.
If Stone understood this transaction correctly, he now had papal approval to marry Dolce. He was embarrassed that the necessity had never occurred to him. "Your Eminence, I am surprised that your accent is American. Did you attend university there?"
"Yes, and preparatory school and elementary school before that. I was born and raised in Brooklyn. Eduardo and I used to steal fruit together, before the Jesuits got hold of me." He said something to Eduardo in what seemed to Stone flawless Italian, raising a chuckle. He turned back to Stone. "I understand that you are engaged in the practice of law."
"That's correct."
"If I may torture the scriptures a little, it is probably easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a lawyer to enter the Kingdom of Heaven."
"I tread as narrow a path as my feet will follow," Stone replied.
Bellini smiled. "I should hate to oppose this young man in court," he said to Eduardo.