End of the Line

Chapter 22. Belle and Giovanni

"Belle, I would like you to meet Maria. Maria, this is Belle and her brother Dan."

Belle and Dan rose in greeting and shook hands. 

"My, Dan that is a strong grip," said Maria ruefully shaking her hand. 

"Oh I'm so sorry," said Dan. 

Belle had never seen him so flustered. Maria's costume was largely to blame. She was wearing the latest fashion in swimwear. It bore no resemblance to the outfit Meg sported in the pond back at the farm. Like Giovanni's it was a woollen one-piece suit with a singlet top. Daringly the skirt like bottom ended well above the knee. Two broad white stripes, one across the bosom and the other across the thighs adorned the royal blue costume. Only a woman with the figure of Venus could get away with it. Dan was suitably impressed. 

"Are you enjoying yourselves then?" asked Giovanni. 

"Fine" said Dan. "Especially that crazy music." 

"Oh the boogie woogie. It's fun to dance to, but I don't expect it to last. By the way did you bring swimming gear?" 

"You didn't mention it." 

"My apologies. Such a pity. The water today is ideal. I see that you're not exactly dressed for tennis or badminton either. Maybe you could get involved in a game of croquet until we return, then we could take a boat out on to the lake." 

"That would be fun," said Belle. 

"Good. That's settled then. We won't be long. In the meantime, make sure you get something to eat. The tables are loaded with goodies."  

After this parting piece of advice, Giovanni and Maria left and made their way through the admiring crowd to the lake. 

"What do you think of his girl friend then, Belle?" 

"Alright, if you like that sort of thing." 

"What do you mean 'that sort of thing'? She's gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous." 

"You made that pretty obvious the way you were ogling her." 

"Look who's talking. You never for one minute took your eyes off Giovanni." 

Belle laughed, a form of admission. "Enough of this. Let's go and see if we can join a game of croquet." 

Belle's disorientation in the game made her aware that the drinks she had so liberally imbibed were not innocuous iced fruit drinks. She refused all further offers. 

The picnic tables were laden with foods foreign to the Bensons. There was every conceivable form of pasta, cold meats, and sausages that were far too spicy for taste buds accustomed to bland British fare. Wine was not to their liking either, so their picnic consisted of a large piece of unusual tasting dry cake moistened with lashings of homemade ice cream. 

The jazz band was tuning up for another session when Maria and Giovanni rejoined them at their table. They had changed. Giovanni was now in summer uniform; a white shirt open at the neck revealing a brightly coloured silk cravat, white trousers, and white canvas shoes. Maria had slipped in to a short flimsy blue silk dress. Her long nicely muscled legs were bare and she was wearing white sandals. A broad blue ribbon adorned her chestnut hair and she carried a blue parasol. Obviously blue was her favourite colour 

"Shall we go then?" asked Giovanni. 

"Sure," said Dan, "we're more than ready." The foursome made their way along the lakefront to the boathouse. Several rowboats lay on the stony beach adjacent to the jetty. 

"Dan! Why don't you and Maria take this one? Belle and I will take the one next to it." 

Dan couldn't believe his luck. He took Maria by the hand and decorously led her in to the boat where she seductively lowered herself on to the recliner situated in the bow and raised her parasol. Dan took up his position on the padded seat facing her, and gave a sturdy push of oars on beach to propel the boat out on to the lake. Giovanni did likewise, but made no attempt to follow Dan, who headed southward down the lake and disappeared out of sight around a nearby point of land. Giovanni merely rowed out to the centre of the lake, pulled in the oars, and sat gazing silently at Belle.