The girls’ fathers and brothers retaliate and a fight breaks out in the village square. It quickly turns nasty, and one of the Ceylonese troops is stabbed to death by an irate father, who is whisked away immediately by his friends moments before Ben and the Military Police show up.
Looking for the culprit, Ben comes up against a wall of silence. The villagers have no intention of ratting on the father, especially as they feel the dead soldier got what he deserved.
Days later, after some intense police work (and an anonymous phone call, possibly from someone who wanted to prevent the British military police getting too close to local black market operations), Ben and a handful of MPs raid a house on the village outskirts, where they find and arrest the father, a fact that jeopardizes all the goodwill Ben has created to date.
He has no real proof. When confronted by the defence lawyer, the two Ceylonese soldiers, who had originally identified the father as the killer, admit to it having been too dark that night to be one hundred percent sure. Add that to the alcohol consumed and their testimony is tossed out of court.
No villager steps forward to testify against the father - the general consensus of opinion being that he was simply defending his daughter's honour, something any decent father would have done.
Throughout the investigation and ensuing trial, Anna Maria refuses to talk to Ben, which drives him positively crazy. Mario couldn’t be happier, and never misses an opportunity to badmouth Ben, believing that his every word will drive a wedge deeper and deeper between his daughter and the loathed ‘enemy’.
The rift between the two fiancés is on everyone's tongue, the majority of the villagers very much on Anna Maria's side.
Poor Ben drowns his sorrows in copious amounts of gin at the officers’ mess.
In the café, I notice that the pro-Ben and pro-Anna Maria factions are evenly divided, with both factions unwilling to give in to the other. A couple of old timers even threaten each other, but are quickly shouted down and told to grow up. Naturally, I am caught smack in the middle, unable to take sides.
Poor Ben drowns his sorrows in copious amounts of gin at the officers’ mess.
In the café, I notice that the pro-Ben and pro-Anna Maria factions are evenly divided, with both factions unwilling to give in to the other. A couple of old timers even threaten each other, but are quickly shouted down and told to grow up. Naturally, I am caught smack in the middle, unable to take sides.
It is astonishing that this story still evokes so much passion.
The neutrals contend that Anna Maria never had any intention of leaving Ben, that she was only putting him to the test, playing a typically female game of cat and mouse.
The discussion heats up and might have continued unabated were it not for the look on the café proprietor’s face.
Not long after the investigation, which sees no one sent to prison for the killing of the Ceylonese soldier - officially just another war casualty - Ben is transferred to Naples, and Mario heaves a sigh of relief, convinced that absence will not, in this case, make the heart grow fonder, and that Anna Maria will soon forget Ben.
Providence decides to lend a helping hand in proving the Marquis wrong.
The neutrals contend that Anna Maria never had any intention of leaving Ben, that she was only putting him to the test, playing a typically female game of cat and mouse.
The discussion heats up and might have continued unabated were it not for the look on the café proprietor’s face.
Not long after the investigation, which sees no one sent to prison for the killing of the Ceylonese soldier - officially just another war casualty - Ben is transferred to Naples, and Mario heaves a sigh of relief, convinced that absence will not, in this case, make the heart grow fonder, and that Anna Maria will soon forget Ben.
Providence decides to lend a helping hand in proving the Marquis wrong.
MORE TO COME
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