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a look at the ground floor because she was too tired after the ball the night before in Paris.

And so Niki and I found ourselves alone in the battlements and crenellated walls, as excited as two schoolchildren at each new discovery. While we were looking at the valley that stretched out at the foot of the castle Niki took my hand and then, hand in hand, we resumed walking between the towers and the walls and every now and then Niki stopped to look at me and smiled at me so sweetly that more and more I felt a new warmth in me, as if my heart was not completely dead.

At lunch Niki sat next to me and sat next to me also during the evening. We spoke little because we already felt satisfied and happy just by looking at each other. We walked up the stairs, hand in hand, and then to my bedroom door. We had said good night but stood facing each other. Niki put his hands on my shoulders and: "I've never met a girl like you, Adriana..." he said. "Stay like this, please. You always stay like that, for me..." and quickly put his lips on mine and when I looked at him again his eyes were shining.

Yes, I thought, closing the door behind me. Perhaps, forgetting Enrico, I could have fallen in love with Niki.