Just as he promised, Giovanni showed up with several bottles of Prosecco. Thankfully, people in Paola know enough to bring their own cups to a party! Everybody brought food, too, along with plates and silverware. We started drinking and eating about five p.m. and we were still going strong at one in the morning. I was hoarse by the end of the evening.
Giovanni and I stood together the whole night, holding hands, and greeting one wellwisher after another. Nunzi, of course, brought her whole family. I am pleased to say that she was thrilled for me, hugging me over and over again.
But when she whispered this into my ear: "Oh mia ragazza, sapevo che lo avresti convinto, lo sapevo e basta," ("Oh my best girlfriend, I knew you would convince him, I just knew it!") -- I wanted to punch her hard in the face! It's not going to be easy to erase from my mind the awful things she said about my darling Giovanni. I suppose with time, however, I will forgive her!
Mama never stopped smiling. Well, once she did. She told me the next morning that she overheard Father Crudele bragging about the fact that he was responsible "for bringing the couple together, and for clearing the way, so they could marry" -- "per aver riunito la coppia e per aver spianato la strada in modo che potessero sposarsi."
"He is such a braggart, always puffing himself up and forever butting himself into situations where he doesn't belong!!" Mama was furious.
"Well, Mama, as much as I hate to praise him, in this case, he is right." I hadn't had time to tell her what Giovanni told me just as the party started.
"So Giovanni was the first to greet Father," I told Mama. "Giovanni hugged the priest and then he slipped a large roll of lire into the priest's hands. I looked surprised and Giovanni turned to me with a big grin and said, 'That's the least I can do, Fi. You see, we wouldn't be getting married if it weren't for Father's exraordinary help!"
Mama looked like someone had slapped her. "Oh my dear Fi, that worries me," she said, moving one hand nervously over her mouth. "You know how I feel about this priest. He will do anything, ANYTHING, for money! He is just not a man to be trusted."
"Yes, Mama, I know that all too well, but in this case, I trust Giovanni to know what he's doing. He's a very educated man!"
There was a long moment when Mama still looked like she was shrouded in a dark cloud. I decided I would ask her if she had any ideas about what I could wear for a wedding dress.
"Oh yes I do have ideas," she said, happy once again. "I have a drawer full of crocheted lace,
I liked that idea very much, as the dress would be unique. I shared the idea with Giovanni later in the day and then he had another surprise for me.
"Well, I agree that lace would be splendid. But if you would allow me, Fi, I brought back a bolt of white silk. It was easy for me, because in the factory that my father owns, he uses silk to line woolen coats."
"Giovanni, I am astonished. You actually knew to bring it back with you?"
"Filomena, haven't I explained to you again and again, my darling, that all the while when I was away, I was certain I wanted to marry you! And of course I know that silk is not something you find readily here in the south." He shrugged. "So I decided that one way or another, the silk would make you a gorgeous wedding dress!"
"I know you are not the sort of girl who wears jewelry," he said, "but I hope you will decide to wear this ring." Giovanni kissed my forehead. "I have to laugh," I replied. "The only reason I don't wear jewelry is that we have never had enough money to buy anything!" He squeezed my shoulders. "Of course, how silly of me," he said.
Much later, I would remember this conversation. I will ythink about the fact that as much as Giovanni loves me, he still doesn't really understand me completely, because he can't possibly know what it's like to grow up dirt poor!
**********
Meanwhile, we had to schedule the wedding. Father Crudele said we could marry as soon as we had posted the marriage banns for three consecutive weeks. "We will announce the banns starting this Sunday," which was November 7th. That meant we could marry as soon as November 28th. Could Mama finish the wedding gown by that date?
Mama asked for an additional week, just to make sure! So we set the wedding date for Saturday, December 4th. I could hardly contain my excitement. Giovanni asked me to come to the house in San Lucido to see what we needed to do before we moved in on our wedding night. I asked Mama if she would enjoy visiting the house that I would occupy in San Lucido. "Oh I would love that," she replied, and I promised to talk to Giovanni to decide when the three of us would go.
Mama spent much of her days crocheting. All of her friends brought spools of cotton thread, and donated them towards my dress! These same friends were making me a couple set of sheets, edged in cotton lace, as well as linen towels.
For some reason, I woke up one morning feeling profoundly frightened. I lay in bed looking up at the wooden beams in the ceiling. What was this feeling? I was really so excited about getting married! But now it hit me: I was actually going to leave the only house I had ever known, the only place I had ever slept for my entire life, and I was going to live with Giovanni. I felt something close to panic, wondering what it would feel like to leave Mama behind, and to sleep with Giovanni. What would it feel like when we consummated our marriage? What exactly should I know? Nunzi had explained things to me, but I decided I needed to ask her more specifically what I should expect.
It was a Friday morning when I went to see her.
She was still feeling ill with nausea. When I walked in, she was sitting at the table in a kitchen chair with her head resting on her folded arms. The children were running through the house like mad, shouting and playing with each other.
"Oh Fi, it's so nice to see you," Nunzi said, but her voice sounded dead. She had been throwing up for weeks, and she was thoroughly exhausted. She had a pile of bread, cut into small cubes, and she was eating them very slowly. She told me she was eating all day long in order to keep the nausea down. I asked her if I could make her some tea, but she didn't even want that!
"I feel awful that you are so ill," I said, laying a hand on her shoulder. She took hold of my hand and squeezed it.
"It's ok," she said. "It usually passes by mid-day. Sit down, ragazza, and keep me company."
I sat down. It suddenly felt rather ridiculous to ask her the probing question that had brought me here. So I didn't ask right away.
"Tell me, have you set the wedding day?"
"Yes, Saturday, December 4th, at the 11 o'clock high mass."
"I hope I will stop throwing up by that time of the morning!"
"Oh Nunzi, I am so sorry! But you have to be there, you are my 'damigella d'onore!'" -- maid of honor!
She lifted her head off her arms. "Oh, I will be there alright," she grinned, "even if I have to carry a bowl to catch...you know!'"
The thought of Nunzi throwing up as she stood at my elbow at the front of the church was horrifying, but I didn't say a word. I didn't want to add to her worries. I decided I'd better hurry up and ask my question, so I could get back home. Giovanni was coming at noon with a carriage, so he could take Mama and me to San Lucido.
"Nunzi, you have to help me," I said, sheepishly.
"I feel bad asking you this today when you are in such a bad way with the nausea."
"Ah, m'amica, out with it!"
I smiled. "OK. So...I'm a little worried that I won't know what to do on... my wedding night."
She sat up. She set a hand on my arm. "I understand Fi. But I've told you this before, more than once. It all happens very naturally. Giovanni has kissed you, right?"
"Of course. Many times."
"Well, so, let him lead you through the rest of it. Just concentrate on relaxing."
I laced my fingers together. "It will hurt, is that certain?"
"Yes, it will hurt a little. But Fi, it's not so bad. And that's not what you will remember. You will remember feeling closer to him than to anyone you've ever known."
I sat there staring at her.
"You know what else I've told you, Fi. How much it hurts to give birth. Terrible pain!!!! But again, that's not what you focus on. What you remember is how they lay the baby, all wet and purple and squalling, into your arms and you are happier than you've ever been before. You will know no greater happiness!"
I nodded. And I smiled. "I guess you should know, being you are on baby number four!"
We talked a little more, about this and that. The wedding dress, especially.
"I must say, Fi, the fact Giovanni carried that bolt of white silk all the way from Tuscany to Calabria says wonderful things about him!"
I shook my head. "I know it does. He is such a special man. I don't know how I got so very lucky, Nunzi!"
And with that, I said my goodbyes, and left, feeling a little guilty I couldn't stay to help watch the wild little ones that she calls her beloved children.
*******
Giovanni arrived in the carriage shortly after noontime. Mama and I were waiting outside the door. It was a glorious fall day, with a sky that matched the ocean.
"Good day ladies!" He stepped down and helped Mama climb into the carriage. And then he helped me.
As we drove through Paola, the horse clipclopping in front of the carriage, I thought about the fact that I had only been engaged nine days! But my life already had changed in amazing ways. For one thing, Mama let me come and go as I pleased. She didn't say a word about me visiting San Lucido with Giovanni. Also, she expected him to come to dinner every night, or for me to dine with him alone at his house. Of course when he dined with us, he always brought lots of food, delicious dishes that had been prepared by Giuseppi.
The house Giovanni purchased in San Lucido was somewhat more modest than the villa, but still, it was a magnificent estate in its own right. As we approached, you could see a large orange tiled roof that extended in every direction. Up close, the house had three floors. The walls of the house are a magnificent ivory stonework. Beautiful cypress trees standing tall and elegant and other plantings lined the driveway, and two huge bronze pots are at either side of the oversized front door. In the pots that day were dozens of red geraniums.
I watched Mama's eyes grow larger and larger. She kept nodding her head back and forth, incredulous at what she saw. Giovanni led the way through the gated front door. In the entrance foyer, the floor was the same pink marble I first saw in the large villa. And there were three or four marble statues, and large potted plants. I can't describe how beautiful the room is! Off in the corner was a grand staircase -- the first time I walked up that carpeted staircase, my feet sank in the thick red rug, emblazoned with Giovanni's family crest. Only later did I see the great irony in his having the family crest displayed so prominently on the stairs! There were still things about Giovanni I didn't quite understand, and I was determined to talk to him about them all...in time!
"Oh Fi, I know you said it was magnificent, but this is so much more grand than I ever imagined!"
I chuckled. "And this is smaller than the villa," I said.
Giovanni returned with Giuseppi who gave me a tight hug. Then he shook hands with Mama. "It is such a pleasure to meet you, Signora," he said.
Giuseppi told us what we were having for lunch: pastina en brodo, pesto made from fresh basil and fennel on top of potato gnocchi, fresh pan-fried cod, arugula and parmesan salad and tiramisu for dessert. "Oh, my, that sounds just right," Mama said and I squeezed her shoulders. While Giuseppi returned to the kitchen, Giovanni gave us the grand tour: six large bedrooms on the second floor, three servants quarters on the third. A total of seven luxurious bathrooms (where Mama was completely dumbstruck examinging the toilets, the huge clawfoot bathtubs with gold feet, and the marble sinks. Also, there is a library, an enormous dining room and an "event" room (i.e. a small ballroom,) along with a parlor on the second floor "just for family gatherings," Giovanni said. Mama looked at me at that moment and I know what she was thinking: G had divorced himself from his family!
By the time we circled back down to the dining room, a maid named Lucia had served the soup. We sat down, taking up just a tiny section of the long table. I was able to smell the lilies, with red centers, that sat in a vase.
"Oh my, those are such lovely flowers," I said. At the same moment, he spoke the very same thought I had:
"Fi you should carry those lilies at the wedding!"
The pasta arrived, and then Giovanni brought up another matter. "Signora, now that you have visited our house" -- and here he reached out and covered my hand with his -- "how do you feel about having the wedding dinner here in our ballroom?"
Mama blinked. "I wasn't thinking about a wedding dinner," she murmured. Of course not, as most couples in Paola married and then had a small reception, perhaps serving a few desserts.
I leaned toward my mother. "Would it be acceptable to you to have a dinner here, Mama?" I did not want to embarrass or insult her.
She looked around the elegant dining room, with pots of giant ferns placed in each corner and between the arched windows. Then a smile slowly formed on her face.
"This would be a delightful place to have the reception," she said. "I approve!"
No comments:
Post a Comment