"But it isn't enough, is it? Too many ghosts haunt you, and I can't dispel them. I wish I could, because now I, too, have a ghost that will haunt me all my life."

"Venice is a city of ghosts," she reminded him. "You taught me that."

"Yes, but I didn't want you to be a ghost. I wanted you to be my reality. Instead, you'll be a 'might-have-been,' and that's the worst kind of ghost there is."

She nodded. She couldn't deny it. But neither could she stop what was happening. It was like being carried on by the irresistible tide that flowed through the lagoon.

"So," he went on, "I won't come any further. I won't watch you get onto the plane, and wave as it vanishes into the sky, because I couldn't bear to."

"It isn't that I don't love you," she said huskily. "Please believe me. It's just that I can't take any more risks."

"What do you mean 'any more'?" he asked with sudden anger. "You've never taken a risk in your life. Even your marriage was hedged around with safety barriers, and they were what destroyed it.

"Do you remember my saying that if you jumped into my boat a third time you'd have to marry me? Do it now. Risk it. Take that third leap, and find my arms outstretched to catch you. Because they always will be."

"I know," she choked. "But it's how I am. I can't help it."

"Then there's no hope for us?"

She shook her head.

"Goodbye, amor mio," he said softly. "I shall never forget you."

He took her face between his hands and kissed her with a tenderness that broke her heart.

"Goodbye, goodbye," he whispered.

She clung to him, wanting to prolong the moment forever, but unable to change her mind.

He walked away from her toward the jetty. She waited for him to look back, telling herself that until he did that, it wasn't over.

But he didn't look back, and she realized that he wouldn't do so. He wasn't sentimental, just a man with a powerful, loving heart that she had rejected.