His lips twitching, the old man consented to explain, “There were five boys in total. These two and three who I am told are from a local family. The five were in the seminary’s vegetable garden—exploring, I have not a doubt—when they were spotted by one of the acolytes. Sadly, he wasn’t one of the more experienced scholars, who would have engaged with the boys and encouraged their interest. Instead, our young acolyte hailed them in harsh tones, and no doubt fearing retribution, the five ran off. The acolyte then compounded his error by giving chase.” The prior sighed and looked at Toby. “Of course, the boys could run faster, but they turned in to a part of the garden with only one entrance. In order to escape pursuit, the three local lads climbed a wall covered in grape vines, damaging the vines and the grapes still on them, much to Father Grigori’s disgust.”
The prior turned to smile at Roland and Bryce. “But these two—your two—were better mannered and shied from causing damage in a bid to escape. They were brought here to me, and Father Grigori and I have told them how much we appreciate their restraint. Once we ascertained that they were connected to you, I sent word to the villa, and in the meantime, I have been entertaining your lost lambs with stories of life within the seminary’s walls.”
The pronounced twinkle in the prior’s eyes suggested he’d been teasing the boys. He confirmed that by looking at Toby and, in a regretful tone, admitting, “I have had to own that adventures of any sort are simply not a part of our curriculum.” His expression turned mock-glum. “So it seems these enterprising but well-mannered boys are not likely candidates for our house.”
With their eyes, the boys were signaling that they absolutely definitely weren’t interested in joining the seminary. Toby struggled to keep a straight face as, soberly and apparently equally regretfully, he admitted, “No, indeed. They’re far too addicted to adventuring, I fear.”
“Aha!” the prior exclaimed and gleefully announced, “In that, my son, they take strongly after you.”
Toby laughed, and the others laughed, too, as relief that all was well spread like balm through the room.
From the boys’ expressions, they were beginning to believe that they weren’t in too much trouble; as Toby and Diana accepted the seats the prior waved them to and settled to chat, the pair sank onto the footstools.
The prior was starved of news of the outside world, and Toby and Diana put themselves out to repay his kindness to the boys with general information.
Twenty minutes later, with good wishes all around, they left the prior, and the acolyte escorted them to the front door.
Once the heavy wooden door had shut behind them and the four of them had started along the piazza, Roland looked up at Toby and Diana. “We’re sorry. We just followed the others through a gate in the wall. We didn’t know we weren’t supposed to be there.”
Toby took in the boys’ wide eyes, their gazes beseeching him to understand. After a moment of swift thought, he said, “Let this be a lesson to you. It’s rarely wise to blindly follow others who might lead you astray. If you must follow anyone, and sometimes you just have to, only follow those who you are as absolutely certain as you can be are worthy of your trust.”
Staring up at Toby, Bryce blinked, then offered, “Like you and Mama?”
Toby shot a glance at Diana and saw that she’d heard and was equally affected. He found a reassuring smile and aimed it at the boys. “Yes. Like me and Mama.”
While he and Diana were increasingly seeing the children as “theirs,” apparently, the children were increasingly viewing him and her in a complementary light.
Together, he and she herded the boys toward the villa.
As they neared the gate, in a small voice, Roland asked, “Will we have to go to our room and miss dinner?”
Unsure of the right answer, Toby cocked a brow at Diana.
She saw and responded, “Not in this instance.” She met Roland’s and Bryce’s hopeful gazes. “I think you’ve both had enough of a scare, one that should make you think about what happened and learn from the experience.”
Both boys marshaled their expressions into ones of suitable seriousness.
They reached the gate in the wall, and Toby opened it.
He ushered the others into the villa’s garden and followed. Pausing to close the gate, he studied the three as they made their way along the path to the front door.
Something in his chest tightened, then eased.
His little family. They truly felt like that to him.
* * *
The retelling of the boys’escapade and how it had ended filled much of the ensuing hours and kept attention focused on the boys until the children retired to their beds.
The evening had turned cool—too cool to sit comfortably on the patio—leaving Giovanni, Toby, Diana, and Giulia to seek refuge in the drawing room. They turned the lamps low, sat, and chatted easily, sharing various observations and discussing the relationship between the rest of the islanders and the seminarians.
Eventually, Giulia took herself off to bed, and shortly after that, Giovanni, who had traveled to the mainland on business during the morning, confessed to being tired and followed his sister upstairs.
Left in what had become, for them, unusual privacy, Toby felt compelled to seize the moment to voice a concern that had been growing day by day.
Diana was sitting in an armchair beside a lamp and sewing the hem of one of Evelyn’s dresses.
Seated in the armchair opposite, he leant forward, resting his forearms on his thighs and, when the movement drew Diana’s attention, met her gaze and admitted, “I’m not looking forward to handing the children over to their great-aunt. In fact, I’m no longer sure that doing so will be in their best interests.”
