CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

"We used to spend hour after hour here.. Talking, planning, doting on one another... Those were incredibly...times."

Don Fabrizio had taken Mercedes out of the room where she'd been stashed for weeks for the first time, and now, they were in his garden. Of course, there was a host of at least twelve men who were to watch her, prevent her escape, and take her back to her room when this was done, but, it felt immensely good to be out and under the skies and feel the cool of the afternoon. She had missed this.

"We would talk about anything imaginable; my obsession with politics, her obsession with fashion, our children, our home country, Italy, food; anything.." He continued.

They were standing in the midst of the magnificent garden under the mild sunlight and breezy winter, and Don Fabrizio was staring into a space, a dreamy smile on his face, reminiscing on the past bliss he'd enjoyed with his late wife.

"But then... Cancer came and took her away from me... And even before she left, th