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herself from her resting place and quickening her pace, egged on by curiosity, she followed him.   She rounded the corner, just in time to see him disappearing into a silver, Alfa Romeo.   Her pulse racing, Holly asked herself if she was going loopy.   Was it him?   Tortured by uncertainty, she thought about little else as she trudged back up the hill towards the villa.

Chapter Five

    “Hollee!” shouted Emilio.   Holly, who had been relaxing in the pool, shot upright and then swam to the edge.
    “What’s wrong?” she asked.
    “I have some news and I think it will be good for your book and I wanted to tell you before Guido,” he admitted slightly abashed.
    “It’s not something bad?” Holly was confused.
    “Noooo. It’s very good. Our friend, Alessandro is getting married next week.   I asked him if you could come and he said yes!”
    “Oh, thank you,” said Holly.   “I’ve never been to an Italian wedding before.”
    “Well, you’ll have to eat nothing for two days before.”
    “Are you saying I’m fat?” Holly was indignant.
    “Fat?   Ma sei pazza? ”
    Holly said she wasn’t mad, but why wasn’t she to eat for two days.
    “OK, maybe not two days, but it’s like a marathon eating event, eight courses.   Last week you couldn’t even manage dessert.” Emilio chided.
    Sheepishly Holly agreed, “I know.   I love food, but I fill up quickly.”
    “So, we have eight courses usually and there is lots of dancing, singing and many speeches.   There are normally at least two hundred people.”
    “Two hundred guests!   Evening or day?”
    “What do you mean?   The wedding is during the day.”
    “No, I mean, of the two hundred guests, how many are invited for the whole day and how many just for the evening?”
    Emilio looked aghast, “No! We do not do things this way. Everyone comes for the whole day.   It is a day for celebration”
    “I have nothing to wear!” wailed Holly.
    “I am sure you’ll find something. I would like you to be my guest, Holly.   I know you have a fiancé, so don’t worry, I have the purest of intentions.”   At that he winked, letting her know that if Tom hadn’t existed, his intentions would have been less than pure.
    That night at dinner, the four of them talked of little else.   Guido explained that Alessandro owned the large house on the hill, which Holly had so admired on her first day.

    Holly’s creative juices were flowing.   She had already written eighty pages in three weeks, which was a lot, as she was a perfectionist and drafted and re-drafted to within an inch of her life.
    On Tuesday afternoon she decided she really did have nothing suitable to wear.    She asked the signora if she knew anywhere to buy a dress in Arezzo.   Sig.a Tagliaferri was delighted to be of assistance.   She even went as far as to suggest that Holly might want someone with her to approve her choice.   So, they set out after lunch and within half an hour, were scouring the shops in search of the perfect dress.    The assistant couldn’t have been more helpful, rushing to do Holly’s bidding.   Holly wondered if this was because she was foreign and therefore more likely to spend vast sums of money, or if it were because she had a local as a companion.   First she brought out a red flowery dress, which horrified Holly.   The assistant must have seen the look of terror on her face, as she disposed of it forthwith.   Next was a pale green, floaty number. It was OK, but left Holly looking somewhat washed out. The third dress brought a sharp intake of breath from Sig.a Tagliaferri when Holly emerged from the cubicle.   She’d been struggling with herself, as to whether to even show Sig.a Tagliaferri this dress.   It was so revealing.   Cut like that famous Marilyn Monroe dress at the top, it was of voile, with silk underneath.   She looked beautiful.   Holly’s main preoccupation was it was cream and it was a wedding and who knew what the bride would