Others passed them and Luna waited uncomfortably. Two gentlemen stopped nearby and when they turned to speak to Papa she recognised Signore Palagio. Luna prayed they’d move on. She stole another glance and in that moment saw it was Guido Palagio standing with his father, looking back at her. Then he turned and the pair walked off. Luna wondered if he’d recognised her.

Shortly after, her father beckoned and she went and stood by him. He didn’t speak for a while, only looked past her to where the last of the gentlemen were departing.

‘Damnation!’ he cursed and slapped his thigh. Then he turned to Luna and she saw the humiliation she thought was hers alone reflected in his eyes.

Chapter Sixteen

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

In the week that followed, through the final days of summer, Luna’s routine returned to the limited activity of reading in her chamber and watching the antics of her family from her bedroom’s view of the garden. Each morning, she lay in bed till it was fully prime and the sun had pierced her eyelids with its brightness. She kept her eyes shut against the shameful memory of her father pulling the boy’s cap off her curls, still too close to set aside, and hugged herself beneath the covers, waiting till Maria was dressed and gone before she rose. She moved about the room with a sluggish step, all thought of the freedom of boys’ breeches long gone. Each afternoon, she watched Pippo in the garden, scampering between the rose bushes chasing insects and lizards, and remembered his pleasure at pulling off their tails. Livia was always nearby, sitting on the bench beside the pond. Pippo stamped his feet in frustration at what she imagined was one of the slippery creatures escaping from his fingers. She didn’t know what changed an innocent boy into a man like Guido but she felt a new mistrust of her brother’s childish cruelty. She didn’t see her papa but heard his footfall as he descended the staircase and, at other hours of the day, his voice shouting for wine and bread.