“Of course,” he said. “Who else would talk to God on our behalf?”

I said nothing but realized that I would probably never understand the Venetians. A strong, cold wind greeted us as we came out to the waterfront called Zattere. How well I remembered when the bridge of boats had crossed to Giudecca. Now the wide promenade was almost deserted. We turned left and passed an impressive church.

“The Jesuits,” Leo said. “They do everything splendidly. No expense spared.” Finally we came close to the tip of the island, and Leo paused in front of a tall and quite imposing yellow building with blue shutters.

“Here?” I asked, looking at the three marble steps leading up to a front door with a lion’s head knocker on it. “Who lives here?”

“Nobody at the moment,” he said. “The building belongs to my family. The lower floors are offices but are little used at the moment as we have transferred most of our business to the shipping terminal. But come. Let me show you.”

He took out a large key and opened the front door. We stepped into the gloom of a foyer, the only light coming from a skylight several floors above, giving the feeling of being in an aquarium. A marble staircase curved upward. Leo led the way. The staircase up to the next landing was less impressive, being made of simple wood.

“I’m sorry about the stairs,” he said, “but you will have your privacy.”

We came to a halt on a dark landing, and Leo felt around for a light switch. When he turned it on, I saw several doors, but he opened one into what looked like a broom cupboard.

“You see?” he said, going into a small anteroom stacked with odds and ends, then opening the door at the rear. “The building was designed in the old days when there was smuggling and people needed to disappear occasionally. There are several of these secret apartments in the city. Most people will think it just leads to the roof, because that’s what it says on the door. Come.”

And he started up the fourth staircase, this one extremely narrow. We came out into a big room, and I gasped. Windows looked out to a magnificent view—across to Giudecca, the island of San Giorgio Maggiore and even around to the St Mark’s Basin.

“It’s good?” Leo asked, looking pleased at my expression.

“It’s magnificent.”