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Back Under a Dancing Star
Chapters (51)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise for Laura Wood
  3. Dedication
  4. Part One: England
  5. Chapter One
  6. Chapter Two
  7. Chapter Three
  8. Part Two: Villa di Stelle
  9. Chapter Four
  10. Chapter Five
  11. Chapter Six
  12. Chapter Seven
  13. Chapter Eight
  14. Chapter Nine
  15. Chapter Ten
  16. Chapter Eleven
  17. Chapter Twelve
  18. Chapter Thirteen
  19. Chapter Fourteen
  20. Chapter Fifteen
  21. Chapter Sixteen
  22. Chapter Seventeen
  23. Chapter Eighteen
  24. Part Three: Villa di Stelle
  25. Chapter Nineteen
  26. Chapter Twenty
  27. Chapter Twenty-One
  28. Chapter Twenty-Two
  29. Chapter Twenty-Three
  30. Chapter Twenty-Four
  31. Chapter Twenty-Five
  32. Chapter Twenty-Six
  33. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  34. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  35. Part Four: Florence
  36. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  37. Chapter Thirty
  38. Chapter Thirty-One
  39. Chapter Thirty-Two
  40. Part Five: Villa Di Stelle
  41. Chapter Thirty-Three
  42. Chapter Thirty-Four
  43. Chapter Thirty-Five
  44. Chapter Thirty-Six
  45. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  46. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  47. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  48. Chapter Forty
  49. Epilogue: England
  50. Acknowledgements
  51. About the Author

“You’ve heard from Lili?” Ben perks up. “She’s back?”

“I have,” Filomena nods, “and she is.” Ben lets out a whoop of excitement. “There’s a letter for you too, of course,” she continues, holding out an envelope to him.

“Who is Lili?” I ask, trying to catch up.

“An old friend,” Filomena says. “A very dear old friend of both of ours. And one who invites the two of you to stay for a couple of days.”

“Me and … and Ben?” I feel a little flustered by this, by the casual way we have been paired together. “How does she know who I am?”

“I told her that Ben was giving you art lessons.” She folds her hands placidly in her lap. “If one is to truly learn about art then one cannot miss Firenze.”

“I wrote to her about you, too,” says Ben, abstractedly, as he scans his own letter.

“Did you?” I ask, finding myself flushing with unexpected pleasure. “But won’t my uncle mind?”

“You will be back long before he is.” Filomena waves her hand in an airy gesture. “And I’m sure he would not mind.”

I’m not so sure about that, actually. In fact, I’m starting to suspect that perhaps he has not embraced the laid-back bohemian lifestyle as whole-heartedly as it first seemed. Still, I’m certainly not going to turn down the opportunity to visit Florence. Far be it for me to start throwing obstacles in my own path.

“You can go for a few days and still be back in time for the exhibition party,” Filomena says. “You’ll love Florence, Bea.” Her enthusiasm is unrestrained. “It is the most romantic place.”

“It will probably be wasted on me, then,” I say and at that Ben lifts his eyes from his letter to meet mine.

“Oh, I don’t know, Bea.” The smile that he gives me is warm and I feel it all the way in my bones. “I think even you might not be immune to the romance of Florence. In fact, I think you’ll like it a lot.”

Part Four: Florence

Part Four: Florence

August, 1933

BEATRICE:

For which of my good parts did you first suffer love for me?

BENEDICK:

“Suffer love,” a good epithet! I do suffer love indeed, for I love thee against my will.

– Much Ado About Nothing, Act V, Scene 2

Chapter Twenty-Nine

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

“Tell me about Lili,” I demand after we have settled in next to one another on the faded green velvet seats in the train compartment. The journey is only a few hours but I am desperate to be there already.