A man appeared behind Elisabetta and Luna recognised his stout frame and the long face but he was not the same as the imposing professor she’d listened to at the Academy. Here his clothes were simple; the doublet was finely made but it was a plain grey and his head was bare so his hair hung freely to his shoulders. The drama and colour of Florence did not extend to his life in the countryside, though the sight of him brought back shameful memories of her papa whipping the cap from her head. Luna stood uneasy as she had then.

‘Hello again, Signorina Fusili,’ he said.

Luna curtseyed then righted herself on remembering what the lady had just told her and felt the firm press of his hand as he took her own in his. The gesture was unexpected.

‘You are welcome in my home,’ he continued, ‘though I cannot join you to sup this evening as I must meet with my overseers.’

She was wary of this man and held herself tightly. He turned to gather his cloak and whistled, and Luna watched with surprise as two giant hounds barrelled through from a nearby doorway towards their master. He bent down and ruffled their ears, letting the dogs jump up and around him with skittish excitement. ‘They are impatient to be outdoors.’

‘Cannot you postpone the overseers till the morn?’ his wife asked.

‘And disrespect the men? Tell me you know how that would make me look, my love.’ He spoke with good humour but Luna recognised the patrician tone. They were not so different to her parents after all.

The lady shook her head, pushing back the dogs that panted around her as she went to gather her husband’s cloak and see him off.

Luna was relieved to stand back whilst the couple fussed. It gave her a chance to take in her new surroundings; she’d already noted the airy space of this reception room. The beamed wood of the ceiling hung so far above it seemed to meet the sky. The floor of brick was laid out in a herringbone pattern and a shimmering glow of light showed where candelabras burned at the other end of the reception room. A long table flanked one wall with a set of oversized ceramic pots elegantly arranged in the centre. Through the door she saw an equally broad central hall where a staircase wound to upper levels and a corridor cut a wide path to the rear of the house.