The Dark Heart of Florence by Tasha Alexander (ebook reader screen TXT) 📕

He did not touch me, did not offer me a single word of encouragement. Even so, I was more curious than worried, wanting to know the details of the plan he would formulate, never doubting we would have a life together.

Alfia was waiting for me in the nave when I emerged from the cloisters. “Did you tell him?” she asked, waiting until we had left the church.

“I did. He will arrange everything.”

“Meaning what?”

“We will be married, of course. What else could it mean?”

She was too kind to introduce me to the truth. Not yet, at any rate. At the time, I saw sadness in her eyes and assumed she feared she would not be invited to join the household Giacomo and I would set up. I told her I would take her with me. She shook her head, but said nothing.

Almost a week later, my mother came to me, a letter in her hand. “Mina, I’ve received an invitation for you to visit Father Cambio’s sister at her villa near Lake Garda. She’s a widow now and has always been sickly, he explains, and likes to have a companion, someone amusing and intelligent. He wrote to her about you some weeks ago, and she asks if you would come live with her for the next year. It’s a great honor.”

My heart was pounding. Lake Garda? Giacomo’s sister? I didn’t even know he had a sister, but it was a brilliant scheme. We could marry from there, after he’d renounced the priesthood, and present ourselves to my parents as a couple, when it was too late for them to interfere. My mother was watching me, waiting for a reply. Not wanting to show too much excitement, I remained guarded. “I’ve never been to Lake Garda.”

“Signora Cambio married into one of the wealthiest and most influential families in Lombardy. It’s likely she will introduce you to many young men who would make suitable husbands.”

Indeed, but I was no longer in need of a suitor. I was already all but engaged. I wondered what my mother’s reaction would be when she learned of my marriage. I couldn’t help but smile. “When will I leave?”

She draped her arm around my shoulder, pulled me close, and patted my hair, like she had when I was a little girl. “This is a marvelous opportunity for you. Your father and I discussed it last night and agreed that you should go. I’ve already replied to say that you will set off the day after tomorrow. Alfia will accompany you.”

I can still recall every detail of that crisp, autumnal day. The bright sun mirrored my mood, and my confidence was unshakable. I knew Giacomo and I would face scathing disapproval, but we could survive that. Love, I believed then, made it possible to survive anything. I desperately wanted to see him, to tell him how heartily I approved of his plan. Ordinarily, I would not be going to confession until the following morning, but my mother would be so busy organizing the details of my trip, she was unlikely to notice if I slipped out for a bit. I couldn’t wait any longer to see Giacomo.

I sent for Alfia and told her I needed to go to church.

“Why?” she asked. “What’s happening?”

“I’m to go live with Giacomo’s sister for the next year and you’re to come with me. I never dreamed he would act so quickly! I wonder how soon we’ll be married. I don’t know what, precisely, he will have to do to leave the priesthood. Speak to the bishop, I suppose, but—”

“It would be best not to go to him right now,” Alfia said. “Wait for him to contact you at his sister’s.”

“Why would you say that?” I asked.

She scrunched her lips and beetled her brows. “This is a delicate situation. Drawing any attention to your connection could put all of your plans in jeopardy.”

“Don’t be silly. All I’m doing is going to confession, as I do every week. No one will notice if I do it a day early, and even if someone did, I can explain that I was eager to receive one more sacrament in my family’s church before going away for such a long time.”

Alfia sighed. “I don’t think I was ever so young as you.”

“What does that mean?”

“Not young, but innocent.”

“You’re not making any sense.”

“I don’t think you should go,” she said. “It may cause you much pain. Then again, it may be the last…” Her voice trailed. She shook her head. “I will do your bidding.”

I drew a deep breath as we entered the church, warmth filling me. The lingering aroma of incense smelled like all good things. I searched until I found Giacomo, reading in the garden of the cloisters.

“Forgive me for intruding upon you like this,” I said. “My mother told me of the invitation to your sister’s. I know I should be more patient and wait for your further instructions, but I had to see you.”

“You should not be here,” he said angrily, glancing around to make sure there was no one else present and then motioning for me to follow him. We went to our room. “I told you to come for confession as usual. This is not usual.”

“My mother tells me I am to leave the day after tomorrow, so tomorrow will be hectic and I might not have been able to come. I couldn’t leave Florence without seeing you again.”

He closed his eyes, but I thought I saw his face soften. “Yes,” he murmured, pulling me to him. “Just once again.”

It was the sweetest hour of my life.

Afterward, as I arranged myself, I felt all aglow. “I suppose we won’t meet again until we marry. I don’t know how I shall wait—”

“Marry? Marry?” He stepped away from me and laughed. “Signorina Portinari, I don’t know how you came to the conclusion we would marry. I am a priest. My life is dedicated to God.