“I don’t want to stain this joyous day in any fashion, nor bring up upsetting memories, but I think you should know that Zwerger is dead. His soldiers deserted him, right at the end, and he thought he might be able to escape back to Austria. Instead the partisans found him, and they brought him back here, to Mezzo Ciel. They’d already beaten him half to death, and likely they would have happily hanged him from the nearest tree, but someone remembered that Zwerger had very nearly killed Nico in the piazza. So they propped him up against the wall and shot him.”

“Did you see it happen?” Nina asked, grimly fascinated and yet still, somehow, appalled.

“I was too late to intervene, but I did go to him as he lay dying and offered him the sacrament of extreme unction. One final chance to repent of his sins. But he refused. He turned his head away, and he was dead a few minutes later. Unfortunately I find I cannot regret his having met his end in such a way. It is a failing of mine, and I have prayed upon it, but still. My heart is stubborn.”

Nico nodded slowly, his eyes fixed on Nina’s face. As if he weren’t quite certain of what he saw. “I don’t blame you for it, Father. If ever a man truly deserved to meet such an end, it was Karl Zwerger. The world is well rid of him.”

Lucia had been asleep in Nico’s arms, but now she stirred, her lacy eyelashes fluttering against her perfectly rosy cheeks, and this time Nina was brave enough to reach for her baby, cuddle her close, and revel in the weight of her sturdy little body, the feathery softness of her wispy curls, and the calming cadence of her steady exhalations.

“Since you’re here, Father, Nina and I want to ask if you will grace us with a blessing when we are married. The synagogues are still closed, so we will have to be content with a civil marriage for now.”

They had talked of it in the station on the night of their reunion, but she hadn’t expected him to bring up the subject so soon.

“I would be honored to do so,” Father Bernardi readily agreed. “When were you thinking?”

“As soon as possible. And we’ll have a celebration after. A proper festa for everyone.”

“They’ll be shocked if they learn the reason why,” Rosa commented with a smile.

“I think that can remain our secret,” Nico said. “Let us tell them, instead, that it’s to celebrate our homecoming. As indeed it will be.”