A Kitten Called Cat

Chapter Thirty Three - Two Visitors

Then, as the savage heat of the middle of the day began to fade, I collected my books and set to work on my Italian homework. Master had suggested that I pause the maths and concentrate on Italian while I was here and Francesca seemed to want to fill the gap.

Terri sat with me with her nose stuck in an economics textbook and, at some stage, Zi'Anna appeared and sat with me, knitting and helping me. She must have done this with Terri and the poor old dear was probably missing it!

And then it was time to get ready for dinner... and for my first make-up lesson!

The days slipped into a comfortable routine until Friday. I'd had my afternoon nap and was busy with my homework but, for some reason, Zi'Anna wasn't about.

I was about half way through when the old lady appeared. We gave her the usual two kiss treatment and she said something in Italian. "Nonno has asked us to attend him in his sitting room straight away," Terri translated for me.

Luckily, I'd managed to forget what Mr Bossy had told me about the visitor or I'd have felt guilty about hiding it from my sister. But my heart gave a funny little jump when I realised.

Terri must have noticed. "D'you know what this is all about?" she asked.

"I might be able to guess but I promised not to say anything so please don't ask," I told her because, by now, Mr Bossy's 'telling the truth when it would be easier to lie' thing had become a habit. I guess it made life easier in the long run but it was pretty uncomfortable right now.

So, fighting to squish down my excitement, I followed Terri and Zi'Anna through the maze of corridors to Nonno's private sitting room. As soon as we stepped into the room, Terri rushed over to Nonno and knelt beside him. "Be calm, little one," he told her, speaking English because I was there. He must have noticed that she looked worried. "All is well," he reassured her. He leaned forward and kissed her on top of the head.

Terri relaxed a bit when she heard that and smiled up at him.

He gestured to Zi'Anna and me to sit. I sat on the sofa closest to him but Zi'Anna moved to her upright chair by the door.

"A Dr Patel came to visit me today..." Nonno said.

Terri gave a funny little squeak and he rubbed her hair again and gave her a couple of seconds to sort her head out.

"He requests my permission to..." He paused for a moment then said something in Italian.

She hesitated for a moment, looking completely stunned. At last she managed to translate for me. "'Pay court', I suppose."

"He requests my permission to pay court to you. I would know how you feel on this. Will you answer now or will you think on it, Nipotina?"

Terri was quiet for a long time as Nonno brushed his hand over her hair to tell her there was no rush. Then she looked up to meet his eye. She tried to talk but no words came out so she cleared her throat and started again. "We only met briefly... and it was a really difficult time... and we hardly spoke to one another. But I have to say that I found him interesting..." she tried to look down but Mr Andretti would not let her and lifted her chin... "and attractive," she admitted, blushing beautifully. "I would like to get to know him better, if you think he is suitable for me, Nonno."

She glanced across at me and she had a lovely smile on her face, I smiled back.

"You can guess, Nipotina," he told her, "I would not say something to you if I did not think of him as suitable."

He leaned down and kissed her again then turned his attention to me. For you, also, I have a surprise. You go now with Zi'Anna. She brings the doctor back."