Aunt Hortensia came out of the bathroom.

“So where are we going today?” I asked.

“The Museo Correr, I think,” she said. “Maybe St George’s Church, and since it is our last day, we might spend some time looking in the little shops on the Rialto Bridge. You wanted to buy a piece of Venetian glass, I remember.”

I nodded in agreement. I showered, dressed and started to brush my hair, noticing with alarm that there were some pieces of dry grass at the back of my head. Thank heavens Aunt H. hadn’t spotted them. I brushed hastily, and we went down to breakfast. As we had filled our plates with rolls, ham and cheese and were about to take our places under an umbrella, the proprietress appeared, calling Aunt H.’s name and beckoning to her. I sat down and started to tuck in, having no premonition of anything wrong. Aunt H. appeared a few minutes later with a face like thunder.

“Leave that and come with me, Juliet,” she said.

I stood up and followed her into an empty salon, where she turned to face me.

“You wicked girl,” she said, “you have brought shame and disgrace on me and your entire family!”

I opened my mouth, but she went on. “You were seen last night. Seen climbing in through our window from a boat with a young man at the helm. I presume it was the same fellow who rescued you from the canal. What were you thinking? Are you mad?”

“It was quite harmless,” I said, realizing as I uttered the words that it wasn’t exactly harmless. “Leo is a young man from a good family. He took me to show me the gardens and the pavilions where the Biennale is held, that’s all.”

“You disobeyed me. You betrayed my trust. Quite harmless, you say? Do you not realize that in Italy no young woman is allowed out alone, without a chaperone, until she is married? This young man clearly did not give a fig about your reputation. He obviously thought that you were easy pickings, because that is not how he would have behaved with an Italian girl of good family. You are lucky that something terrible didn’t happen to you. You have been sheltered from the wicked ways of men, I realize, but you must have known what a risk you took. Out alone with a strange young man in the dark, in the middle of the night?” She was wagging a finger in my face. “If I had my way, I’d march you straight back to England today. That is what you deserve. But I do not want to upset your dear father, in his present delicate condition. So we shall continue with our tour, but we are leaving Venice immediately.”

“Immediately?” I blurted out the word. “No, please. You don’t understand. It wasn’t like that at all. He’s really nice. Why won’t you meet him, and then you’ll see?”

“Immediately, Juliet.” Her face was like stone. “Go up and pack your things.”