City of Stars (27 page)

And then the two embraced. But it was not a Talian formality and suddenly Georgia knew who the woman was.

She saw that Luciano was smiling indulgently at the couple, who were still in each other's arms.

‘I should be so angry with you,' said Rodolfo quietly. ‘But how can I when it fills me with joy to find you here?'

‘I think you had better re-introduce me to the young woman,' said Silvia.

‘Georgia,' Rodolfo said, still holding the woman's hand in his, ‘I should like you to meet my wife, Silvia Rossi, formerly Duchessa of Bellezza and the mother of the present Duchessa.'

*

In the Papal palace, Rinaldo di Chimici was having another uncomfortable audience with an uncle. This one was not as formidable as Duke Niccolò, but Ferdinando was the Pope and Prince of Remora too.

‘Marriage is a sacred institution,' Ferdinando was saying, in his role as head of the Talian Church. ‘It is not to be unmade lightly.'

‘Indeed not, your Holiness,' said Rinaldo. ‘But I must take some of the blame here. This marriage was perhaps made too lightly. It was I who arranged it.'

The Pope was perfectly aware of this and that his niece Francesca had been forced into it by Rinaldo, with the threat of Duke Niccolò's displeasure hanging over her if she refused. But if the ploy had succeeded and Francesca had been elected Duchessa of Bellezza, she would have found a way to tolerate her old Bellezzan husband, so the Pope was reluctant to let her escape now that the plan had foundered. It was his duty after all to uphold the sanctity of marriage.

‘On what grounds does the young woman seek an annulment?' he asked now.

Rinaldo hesitated. If their uncle was referring to Francesca as ‘the young woman', there was not much hope in playing the family loyalty card.

‘She ... he ... I believe the marriage is unconsummated, your Holiness,' said Rinaldo horribly aware that he was blushing.

‘After how long?'

‘Nearly a year, your Holiness. And she does not love him.'

‘Well, perhaps if she would let him in her bed, matters might improve,' said the Pope. ‘A baby – that would give her a reason to stay with her husband.'

Rinaldo very much did not want to have to mention that Francesca had been coerced into marrying Councillor Albani. He felt it did not show him in a good light, although this was very unfair. If Francesca had become Duchessa, his own standing in the family would have been very much improved.

‘If he is capable, Holiness,' he muttered now.

Ferdinando di Chimici was not a bad man. He was weak and self-indulgent but he didn't really want to see one of his nieces yoked to a man she didn't love, especially if there were to be no babies. Besides, he did not think that his brother the Duke would have any use for Albani now that the Bellezzan plot had failed. And it might be useful to have Francesca available for another dynastic union. Ferdinando would try to make sure she got a more appealing husband next time.

‘Oh very well,' he said testily, gesturing for his clerk to write the necessary decree. He sank his signet ring with the symbols of the lily and the twins into the soft red wax and handed the document to Rinaldo. In that moment Francesca was a free woman.

*

In the Campo the rain had stopped, leaving the air fresh and clean. Bullock carts came in a stream, full of earth from the surrounding countryside, and teams of men spread it with rakes in a wide band encircling the Piazza. Other men were engaged in building wooden stages to house the most important spectators of the race, though the majority of Remorans would watch from inside the track.

The grandest stage was being erected in front of the Papal palace, but every house with a balcony overlooking the racetrack was already draped with banners in the colours of the Twelfth they supported. The whole Campo was ablaze with colour.

One person particularly enjoying the prospect of the race was Enrico. He was accepting bets on the outcome. The Twins and the Lady had the shortest odds of course, so members of their Twelfths did not stand to win much. Other Twelvers wanted to gamble on a win for their own horses and jockeys but sometimes had a small side bet on the two most likely Twelfths as well. Remorans were practical people.

But they did not like to be seen to be disloyal, so such bets had to be placed discreetly. Enrico became accustomed to wandering through all the Twelfths of the city. He carried a bag full of neckcloths of different colours so that he could change which one he wore according to which Twelfth of the city he was in. He regarded them merely as safe conducts, having no allegiance to any particular Twelfth.

He now spent his days in Remora, riding back up to Santa Fina every night to fly Merla. She was becoming accustomed to him and seemed not to mind letting him ride her while she flew. Enrico did not want to spend any more time than he had to up at the Casa di Chimici. What had happened to the boy up there had really unsettled him. He felt in a way as if he should have been able to stop it. Now he busied himself with his gambling venture to take his mind off the pale boy lying unconscious in the hospital. Of his patron and employer he saw nothing.

*

Arianna couldn't sleep. She stood on the balcony outside her room in the Papal palace. The Campo was filled with moonlight and shadows. All around the edge, little knots of people clustered round horses. Every now and again they would organise themselves into a start and then the horses galloped round the circular track three times sunwise. There was much laughter in the Campo and yet mystery too in seeing it so thronged with people in the middle of the night.

She was watching an odd sight when Rodolfo silently joined her on the balcony. A big powerful grey horse, most unlikely to run in the real Stellata, was carrying two people, a man and a woman. They were strangely dressed though the moonlight bleached the colours out of their clothes.

‘Who are they?' asked Arianna, as the couple moved to the start-point.

‘They look like Zinti,' said Rodolfo. ‘The wandering people. They come here for the festival of the Goddess. It happens on the same day as the race.'

They watched as another impromptu race began. The big grey won by a neck, carrying the two riders as easily as if they were one. As they dismounted and the woman led the man out of the Campo, Arianna gasped.

‘He's blind!' she said.

‘Zinti have more ways of seeing than other people,' said Rodolfo. ‘Isn't it time you were asleep?'

‘I couldn't,' she said. ‘Do you think we were right to come here?'

‘I think it will be perfectly safe, if that's what you mean,' said Rodolfo. ‘Whatever the situation might have been before, I think Niccolò is too distracted by his son's illness to arrange any kind of trouble.'

‘What about the trouble he's already arranged?' asked Arianna.

‘You mean Gaetano?' said Rodolfo. ‘Is he giving you trouble?'

Arianna shrugged. ‘It's been harder than I thought it would be. I really like him and now he's terribly upset about his little brother. It will be hard to refuse him.'

‘You think his heart is in this courtship?'

Arianna was silent.

‘I saw Luciano this morning,' said Rodolfo.

‘How was he?' asked Arianna eagerly.

‘Very anxious,' said Rodolfo. ‘He wants to see you. But he doesn't want to come here. Duke Niccolò has got it into his head that Luciano and the new Stravagante are involved in his son's suicide attempt.'

‘But that's ridiculous!' said Arianna. ‘Luciano wouldn't do that.'

‘I thought that you might like to meet him somewhere neutral,' said Rodolfo. ‘I've suggested to Gaetano that he should take us on a visit to Belle Vigne tomorrow. Luciano will meet us there.'

Georgia was finding it hard to fill her days in London. She spent a lot of time asleep, catching up on all the hours she lost in Remora. Already she was thinking, as Luciano had the summer before, that she wouldn't be able to keep it up when she went back to school in September. And that made her very sad. Talia would be an occasional treat, to see Cesare and his family. Luciano would surely go back to Bellezza with Arianna and Rodolfo after the race and she wouldn't be able to visit him there. Her talisman would only get her to Remora and you couldn't get to Bellezza and back in a day from there. Gaetano and his family would return to Giglia once Falco had died and the same applied to that city although it was closer than the City of Masks.

She had only a week left to enjoy her time in the Talian city with all her friends and enemies still there. Now that the Stravaganti were all together, at least all the ones she knew anything about, there was a feeling that a crisis was approaching. But Georgia didn't know what it was. Would it be because of danger threatening Luciano and her?

Georgia wasn't too afraid for herself; she could always stravagate back home as long as she had her talisman. But Luciano could be killed in Talia if Duke Niccolò decided to avenge his son's death in that way. And then she would have lost him twice.

And then she would remember that Luciano had been captured before and his talisman taken from him; he had told her that story now. And if that happened to her, she would be as Falco was in Remora now, as Luciano had been when he was still Lucien and his parents had agreed to having the life support system switched off.

Such thoughts left her in a cold sweat and she became all the more impatient to get back to Remora and find out what was going on. She was dying to ask about the Duchessa. If Silvia was the person Duke Niccolò was supposed to have assassinated, what was she doing coolly turning up in Remora? And what was her daughter doing ruling Bellezza?

The Bellezzans' carriage was all ready to leave when Georgia next arrived in Remora.

‘Get in,' said Luciano, waving. ‘We're going to Belle Vigne.'

Dethridge was inside the carriage in a jovial mood.

‘Well come, young George,' he said. ‘We are going to paye a visit to the ruins of a Rassenan settlemente. And mayhap we shalle fynde othires making the same journey!'

Luciano was smiling in his corner of the carriage and Georgia felt her heart sink.

And there indeed at Belle Vigne their carriage drew up next to one with the Giglian di Chimici crest on it – the lily and the perfume bottle. As Georgia climbed up the grassy hill she had last seen with Gaetano and Falco, she made out some figures at the top. Rodolfo, Gaetano and a slim and elegant young woman who could only be the Duchessa.

Georgia hung back at the top as Dethridge went forward to embrace Arianna. Luciano was right behind them but the greeting he gave the Duchessa seemed a lot more formal and there was some constraint between them. Luciano nodded at Gaetano, then turned to draw Georgia into the group.

‘And this is Giorgio,' he said.

Georgia was surprised that he used the male form of her name, then noticed that there was another member of the party. As she gave Arianna her hand, she was aware that Gaetano was introducing Dethridge and Luciano to his older brother, Fabrizio. But it was difficult to think of anything else while observed by those violet eyes. They were surrounded by a light turquoise silk mask, the first Georgia had ever seen in Talia, which perfectly matched the Duchessa's elegant dress.