I had no idea how to respond to that letter or to come up with a credible reason for wanting to stay away. Apart from bringing disgrace to my family, there was also a financial component. If I returned home, I’d have no stipend, no job and no way of providing money for my mother. I had arranged for half my stipend to be deposited in her bank every month. This way at least I could save the money that Leo was putting aside for me, resume my position at the school next September, and nobody would be any the wiser.

“I just got a stern letter from my mother, too,” Henry said. “Rather a stern one. What if something awful happened to me? She couldn’t bear to lose her only son.”

“So will you go?” I asked.

“I’d really like to finish up the year here. If things get worse, then I expect I’ll change my mind. But as long as Germany keeps its conquests to the east and England doesn’t do much about it, then I guess we’re relatively safe.”

“Do you think Italy will stay out of it?” I asked.

“Bound to. Mussolini doesn’t have the army or the weapons to take part in any meaningful way. He’s happy to invade Albania, make his people think he’s a great conqueror, but he wouldn’t take on Britain.”

“I hope you’re right,” I said. I glanced up at the sky. “I think we’d better head back, don’t you? It’s about to rain again.”

“Damned rain,” Henry commented. “These poor people putting up their booths—I hope it doesn’t all get ruined.”

“I suppose they are used to it. It seems to rain an awful lot.”

He laughed. “You’re from England. Doesn’t it rain there all the time?”

“It rains frequently, but not deluges like this. When it rains here, it’s as if the sky has opened.”

As I spoke the words, the sky did open. We rushed for cover into the nearest church. Inside the foyer a Christmas crib scene was being erected, with a realistic stable and almost life-size statues. Not just Mary and Joseph, but lots of shepherds and Italian peasants with their animals, tradespeople carrying their wares. I found it quite moving.

We waited for a while, but it didn’t seem as if the rain would stop in a hurry.

“There’s a trattoria on the corner over there,” Henry said. “Should we make a dash and get something to eat?”

“Good idea.”