Chapter 3 #2
I had to admit admiration for the house I wandered through and agreed with Donata that it had retained its grandeur.
Black-and-white marble tiles in the main hall complemented the marble columns and arches that framed the stone-balustraded staircase.
I mounted the steps, ready to reach the ballroom and find a quiet corner in which to sit and watch Donata and Gabriella enjoy themselves.
At the top of the staircase, a floor of polished terra-cotta led toward tall open doors to the ballroom, where people conversed and an orchestra played.
The wall opposite me held a painting of bright yellow flowers and pale orange peaches reposing in a basket, the fruit, flowers, and canted basket rendered in exquisite and lifelike detail.
I caught sight of Gabriella lingering near a carved chest at the opposite end of this hallway and quickly went to her.
“I thought you’d have stayed with Donata,” I said in surprise.
Gabriella shook her head and took my offered arm. “She was deep in conversation with other ladies, and I was curious about the villa.”
“Shall we explore together?” I asked.
Gabriella nodded. “It is a lovely house.”
I detected a forced note and pulled her aside. “What is it? Has something happened?”
“Oh, no, Father, nothing like that,” Gabriella answered, then she quieted. “Please do not think me ungracious or spoiled. I know Lady Donata persuaded her friends to include me tonight.”
“You? Ungracious and spoiled?” I asked in amazement. “You do not know how to be either. Now tell me what has upset you.”
Gabriella studied the intricate pattern of stones at our feet.
“Nothing I can point to, exactly. But I overheard those in the withdrawing room speaking disparagingly of Emile and his family. Asking Lady Donata if she couldn’t have found a better match for me.
I was in the corner and do not know if they realized I was in the room or not. ”
My ire flared. “What did Donata say to this?”
“I do not know. I slipped out before anyone saw me.”
I forced myself to tamp down my anger. “I assure you, Donata will be giving them the rough side of her tongue.” I touched my fingers to Gabriella’s chin, and she reluctantly raised her gaze to mine. “Emile is a fine young man, and everyone in town speaks highly of his family.”
“The Deveres are in trade, and the people here tonight are aristocrats. Their families fled when Lyon was besieged by the Parisians.” Gabriella’s eyes sparkled dangerously.
“Emile’s grandfather was executed after Lyon’s surrender, and his father and uncles nearly were as well.
Emile would not even be here if the revolutionaries had succeeded.
The Deveres sacrificed themselves for this city, while the fathers of these ladies and gentlemen hid themselves until it was safe to emerge. ”
I hadn’t heard the extent of the tale, though Fernand had hinted that things had been difficult for the Deveres when Lyon had resisted the extremes of the revolution. An army had been sent to suppress them, besieging the city for months.
Executions after Lyon’s surrender had taken place in the large plaza first with the guillotine then with simply shooting into crowds. The executions seemed random, with counterrevolutionaries and royalists dying alongside common workers and moderate, middle-class gentlemen.
“It is easy for those who do not suffer to judge,” I said. “I’m not certain what advice to give you, Gabriella, except to remember that the Deveres are good people, and to ignore those disparaging them. It does not matter what ignorant fools think.”
“Do not resort to fisticuffs, you mean?” Gabriella sent me a brittle smile. “It is difficult, sometimes.”
She was very much like me, I thought with a frisson of satisfaction. “It is indeed, but we should behave better than those who toss about insults, uncaring who will be hurt by them.”
“That is why I am apologizing for being ungracious,” Gabriella said quickly. “I’d rather return home than stay at a ball where I am unwelcome, no matter how elegant the house.”
I understood perfectly—thinking of the gentlemen who’d all but sneered at me in the withdrawing room—but I wanted to soothe her.
“If the comtesse herself did not want you here, I wager even Donata would not have talked her into inviting you. The other ladies are guests, just as you are, aren’t they? ”
“I suppose that is true.” Gabriella took my arm again. “With you by my side, Father, we will face them down.”
“That’s the spirit. Now, I know from experience that Donata might be some time. Will you give me the honor of entering the ballroom with me?”
“Of course.” She sent me a brave smile. “I will recover my temper, I assure you.”
“Do not bother. You have no need to bow your head and apologize when an aristocratic lady insults those you care for.”
“I can be civil, however,” Gabriella said, her moroseness fleeing. “That is better, is it not?”
I patted her hand, and we started courageously for the ballroom.
Before we’d gone far, we were startled by a loud screeching from the lower hall.
“What on earth—?” Gabriella asked in alarm and hastened to the staircase, me behind her. Together we peered over the balustrade.
Below us, on the ground floor, several footmen were trying to prevent someone from storming into the house.
“Unhand me,” a female voice in irate French came to us. “I demand you admit me, at once. Send for the comte. He will tell you.”
I recognized, to my astonishment, the vibrant movements and sleek dark hair of Signora Ruggeri, the woman who’d run for her life in the town square that very morning.