‘We have been abroad since yestereve, observing the night sky from that spot yonder.’ The professor pointed towards the next hill. Luna didn’t turn to look. Yearning tugged at her insides again.

Then Nicolaus spoke. ‘When I arrived last night it was already much clouded over so I could see very little.’

Luna inclined her head politely, furiously thinking through that afternoon in Palazzo Rucellai; had he been part of the circle who witnessed her unveiling?

‘Do you have nothing of more interest than the weather with which to entertain the young lady?’ the professor called from his grassy knoll, laughing through his words. ‘I’m pleased we came upon you, Leonarda. Introductions on a hillside like this are much more entertaining, don’t you agree?’ Then he replaced his flagon in the satchel and rose, staggering a moment before walking over to the young man. ‘We best walk on before my wife calls us to eat, and you, young man, need time to wash.’ He wrinkled his nose with a cheeky wink to Luna, then strode off without waiting for either of them.

To be left alone with a young man was totally unexpected and for a brief moment Luna was riveted to the spot, but she couldn’t ignore the courtesy Nicolaus afforded her, standing patiently till she was ready to walk with him. She nodded and they began towards the villa.

‘If I’m not mistaken, those clouds hold more rain,’ Nicolaus said after they’d walked in silence for so long Luna thought he must be able to hear her heartbeat. She turned her head to the heavens and had to agree.

‘Does it bother you much?’ he asked, looking to her boots.

‘I’ve never known any different.’

‘Your father liked to challenge you, did he not?’

‘And I, him,’ she answered, offended by his familiar tone yet also curious as to how this young man knew anything of her papa.

‘So I heard from the talk amongst his cohort.’

Luna wasn’t sure if he meant to insult or praise her but she decided very quickly not to encourage further conversation. His comments were surely a veiled reference to that ignominious afternoon. She cast a furtive glance his way before picking up her pace and striding out, planting her stick firmly into the divots on the goat’s path and trudging through the pain in her boot.