Prologue
The old woman sat alone near the window, watching gray-blue clouds snagging on the hills across from her little villa.
Though it was a gloomy morning, the room with its lemon-colored walls and honey-hued woodwork seemed filled with sunlight.
The woman's thick hair had faded to a dull ivory and was pulled into a low knot. A green shawl lay draped across her thin knees, its vivid spring tint contrating with the rich, plain black of her dress.
Her hands rested on her lap. Both were upturned and, in one palm, lay a watchchain and a pair of jet cuff-links. Her curled fingers half-obscured the polished stones.
The door opened softly and she smiled when she saw Giuliana peering into the sitting room.
The young woman, an orphan from the Casa di Santissima Maria del Popolo, had been with her almost ten years now. She came first as a charity pupil, diligently studying singing and piano. Later, she became a companion, helping her teacher as her health failed and her beauty faded away.
"Signora," the girl said, leaning over her, "do you need anything?"
"No, grazie, child," she said, patting younger woman's pale blue sleeve, "I am just resting again."
Giuliana caught sight of the chain and cuff-links in her former teacher's hand.
"Do you want me to put them away for you now," she asked, opening the lid on the carved ivory box where they were usually kept.
"Let me hold them just a little longer."
"Very well, Signora. I am going to post some letters in the village. I will not be gone for long."
When the door closed behind her with a gentle click and Giuliana's quick steps faded in the hall outside, the woman tightened her hands around the bits of masculine jewelry.
"To love him...even for a little while...would have been enough."
