Luca caught her hand and patted it. “No, Nonna. She does not wish to cause you any pain. She just wants to find out about her relative who used to live here, that’s all.”

But the old woman was now too upset to calm down. Caroline tapped Luca on the shoulder. “We should go,” she whispered.

“I’m sorry,” he said when they were outside again. “I don’t know how much of that you understood. For some reason, she has a dislike of the British. Maybe something that happened long ago. The past and the present are mixed up for her. But she said she did not know of your aunt. Never met her.”

“That’s all right,” Caroline said. “There would have been no reason for her to meet members of your family. I presume the leasing was done through your company. Maybe people had left the city with the threat of war and they wanted to have their buildings occupied rather than have squatters set up in them.”

“I would believe that,” he said, “except why the ninety-nine-year lease? That is what doesn’t make sense to me.” He sighed. “Well, I don’t suppose we’ll ever find out now, unless you discover some correspondence between your aunt and our company that might throw light on the situation.”

“Or maybe some correspondence in your own archives,” Caroline said.

“Possible. But the city does not think it is a forgery, so I must accept that. Someone in our company made an error in judgement, or acted on a whim, and now we’ll probably never know who.” He helped Caroline into the boat. “So enjoy your new apartment. And who knows, I may decide that I want to buy the lease from you. Property in Venice now goes for a good sum.”

Caroline almost blurted out that she didn’t want to sell it, but then stayed silent. She would not be sentimental. The money would pay for a lawyer if she needed one to get Teddy home again. They sped across the lagoon, the boat bouncing over the waves, then landing with a thud. Luca pulled up beside her building, then helped her out.

“I am afraid the builders might be noisy,” he said. “And there is no heat in the building. But otherwise I hope you enjoy your stay. Let me know if you find anything of interest—some of the correspondence, maybe.”