Suddenly there was a shout, and we looked up to see a large woman barrelling towards us, waving her hand in a threatening manner. “Let go of her at this moment, you Sicilian bullies,” she shouted. “You leave her alone, do you hear?”

“Go about your business, woman,” the man who held me said.

“I will not, until you let me take her home. This is the young lady who saved my life when the bridge collapsed at the Festa of the Redentore last year—but of course you wouldn’t know about that, would you? Coming from so far away from our city. She held me above water, and I didn’t drown. An angel. And I won’t let you touch her, isn’t that right, sisters?”

A crowd had gathered, many of them women.

“That’s right,” another said. “Leave her alone, or you’ll have to deal with us.”

“Don’t think you can come into Venice and start throwing your weight around,” a third said, stepping within inches of his face. “We are not Palermo or Messina here. We are civilized people. Go back where you came from.”

“Step back or you could get in trouble,” he said, but he didn’t sound quite as aggressive.

“And you could get thrown into that canal.”

“That’s right. Throw them into the canal.” Voices echoed up and down the fondamenta.

The officer looked around. A large crowd had now gathered, all shouting and gesturing.

“You can’t come to our city and start arresting innocent citizens,” a man’s voice shouted from the back of the crowd.

“Come, my angel. Come with me.” My saviour pulled me away from the carabiniere and tucked her arm through mine. “We’re going home.”

And I was led away. After we had turned the corner, I thanked her profusely.

“Nonsense. My pleasure,” she said. “I live in that building over there. If you need help, you come to me. I’m Constanza, eh?”

“Thank you. I’m Julietta.”

She gave me a kiss on the cheek, and I hurried home without my groceries. But I worried. How was I going to get around if streets were being patrolled? I told Francesca what had happened to me.

“Cursed Sicilians.” She spat into the sink. “Who wants them here? Don’t worry, you are amongst friends.”

I was going to write to Leo, but this afternoon he came running up the steps. “I heard that some carabinieri tried to arrest you,” he said.

“They did. They wanted to take me to a camp.”

He sighed. “I wish you had gone home when you could, Julietta. How can I protect you? I can let our police know that you are not to be touched, but these outsiders, the new paramilitary units, they are not controlled by our city government. Please stay home as much as possible until we sort things out for you.”