Granny here,
Chapter 10
As Daisy tried to drift off to sleep her head was spinning, she had so much on her mind. Would she find out more about the ring? Was the decision concerning Tory the right one? Would her parents retire to Italy? Would Leslie decide to stay? So many questions going around in her head, it would be a miracle if she slept at all.
daisy was so intrigued with the ring she had found that she decided o spend all day Saturday investigating it, her first stop would be the jewelry stores to have them take a look at the ring. Surely they would know something about its value.
The first place was so small they didn't have any knowledge at all about it; the second store passed it off as costume jewelry from the twenties. Daisy thought this guy is a joke; he doesn't have any idea what he is talking about. Daisy had heard of a jeweler who only dealt in antique jewelry so she decided to give him a try, it was quite a drive but she thought it would be worth it, so she got a cup of coffee and off she went to Reggio di Calabria.
Mr. Pizzario, the jeweler at Antiques Reggio, was a jovial man, short in stature and sharp in his knowledge of antique jewelry. In his Italian English he began his inquiry, "Where did you get this piece of jewelry young lady?" "I found it buried in the garden of the villa that I leased." Replied Daisy with an air of excitement. Mr. Pizzario put on his magnifying eye to have a closer look, "First, the mounting is platinum, that is obvious, the main stone is a diamond, but it will take further study to determine it clarity, style, age and the era that it comes from. Are you willing to leave it in my possession so that I may have more time to study it?" He asked as he placed the ring in a box that he retrieved from the drawer. "The ring will be insured by the company that will be doing the examination and you will receive a receipt and be kept up to date on the findings. Will this meet with your approval?" Daisy thought for a moment and decided if she was going to find out any information this was probably her best option. "I think I can do that, how long do you think the search will take?" "That, I have no idea, but I would say at least a month, maybe two, I will call you form time to time and keep you up to date." Daisy signed the permission form and took her receipt and left, wondering if she had done the right thing.
Daisy decided to give Leslie a call on her way back to town. "I' so glad you called Daisy, I was going to call you with the news." "What news, Leslie?" Came Daisy's inquisitive reply. "My job in America has come to an end, I have decided to stay in Calabria, and I received word last week of their decision." "Oh, Leslie, I'm so glad, not that you've lost your job but that you are staying in Calabria, can we get together for dinner tonight?" "I'd love that, let's meet at the Café Cuinsino at six, ok?" "Tell Tory, hi and I will call him later, bye." Daisy got home with plenty of time to relax before meeting Leslie that evening. She poured herself a glass of wine and made her way to the veranda, her favorite place , to chill out for a while. She had no idea how exhausted she really was and before she could drink her wine she fell asleep and of course what else would Daisy do, but dream.
It was almost five o' clock when Daisy woke up, she jumped up, seeing how late it was she would have to rush to make it in time to meet Leslie at the café. She freshened up and out the door she went. Leslie had just been seated when Daisy arrived, the two hugged a friendly hello and sat down. "Oh, Leslie, I am so glad you are staying in Italy, you are my best friend, I really did want you to stay." "You aren't any happier than I am, Daisy, my job was so boring. I had contemplated quitting before I heard that things had a chance of changing in the near future. My parents plan on retiring here in a few years so I will be glad that I stayed." The girls ordered their food and discussed their futures and life in general.
"Leslie, you remember that ring I found, I took it to an antique jewelry specialist and they are going to examine it, they said it could take a month or two. I wonder what they will find out. I've been to the library once but I'll go again when I get their report. I know there is a mystery about that ring and I won't rest until I find out what it is."Yes, Daisy, I do remember it, it sounded lovely when you described it to me, do you think it's real? It will be fun to learn the history behind it. It would be great if it had some mysterious story of love and intrigue to go with it, wouldn't it? What will you do with the ring Daisy?" "If the jeweler decides that it is real, I will have to have it insured and place it in a safe deposit box at the bank. He is experienced enough to know and with the research they are doing they should find out for sure if it's real. After I hear form the experts, all I can do is trust them and their opinion, I will then decide what to do with it, who knows maybe I will find the real owner or at least the family to which it belongs." "You are a dreamer Daisy, to think you will be able to find them after all these years, but maybe you can with enough research, we'll wait and see, it should be very interesting." Daisy and Leslie had a lovely time making plans, since they were going to have more time to spend together their conversation covered everything from A to Z. They spent the entire evening going over the day and what they planned to accomplish in the future. It was late when Daisy returned home, she didn't waste any time getting to bed because she had a busy day ahead of her.
So far Daisy's new life in Italy was becoming far more exciting than she had ever anticipated, she had made new friends, she had fallen in love, she was living in the home of her dreams and she had found a mysterious ring with this intriguing mystery surrounding it which she hoped to solve with a happy ending. Daisy thought moving to Italy was the right decision and she knew there was so much more awaiting her as she moved forward into her Italian future.
Daisy didn't have a clue what her life in Calabria was going to be like when she decided to go there all she knew was that she wanted to go more than anything she had ever wanted in her life and now she was here living her dream. She thought she had found the man of her dreams in Tory, she had made good friends and had an excellent job and lived in a dreamy villa with years of history and secrets to discover.
Her new life was taking shape and she felt that she had made the right decision in coming to Italy and now with the discovery of the ring she had new avenues to investigate and new territory to search.
The weeks were flying by and daisy had not heard from the jeweler, she was getting anxious about what the report would reveal. She gone to the library again and found a picture that looked similar and the story that was told about it revealed that it was said to have belonged to Countess Victoria Francesca Castalina, a countess that was rumored to have had an affair with an American soldier during the war in the eighteen hundreds. Of course this conduct was frowned upon by the royal family and so the story has always been told only as rumor and never believed to have been true.
The story goes that during the war, the countess was visiting Calabria and was given a American soldier escort during her visit. They became very close and eventually lovers, their affair lasted the entire month she was in Calabria. Although she tried to keep it a secret from her family they suspected that something was going on but chose to keep it quiet because it would bring shame upon the royal family.
Daisy began to remember the story her father and other members of the family would tell at family gatherings of one of the grandfathers bragging that in the eighteen hundreds he had an affair with a member of the royal family but no one ever believed him. She couldn't remember all the details or the names but surely there was no connection between the stories and the ring that would be too cool, she would have to call her dad, he should have more information.
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