She opens a tall mahogany door, and we let ourselves into the parlor. Rugs are scattered across the floor, and light blossoms through the unlined silk of the curtains. Allegreza strides over to a window and throws it open. Cool, fresh air snakes across the room, drying the tears on my cheeks.
The leader of the Segreta turns to look at me. Even in her nightwear, she looks magnificent. Her gray-streaked hair is tinged silver in the weak dawn sunlight. She wears a linen night smock but has draped over it a velvet shawl embroidered with turquoise thread and heavy with tassels. On her feet are light kid slippers. She notices me looking at the shawl and casts a hand over it.
“We have an embroiderer in our household. This took her two years to make.” Her green eyes spark. “But I don’t suppose you came here to talk about clothes. Wipe the dirt from your cheeks. We have appearances to keep up. I think my servants are loyal, but I wouldn’t stake my life on it.”
Hastily, I rub my palms over my face. When I take them away, Allegreza gives me a curt nod of approval. She leads me towards a low couch, and the two of us sit down. “We’ll talk in a moment.” Then, in a louder voice: “Ah, Effie has brought your hot chocolate.”
A young servant girl comes into the room, carrying a silver tray. I watch as she takes a silver jug of steaming milk and pours it through a muslin sieve that contains vanilla pods. Then she adds brown crumbs of cocoa and sugar and stirs vigorously, finally passing the warmed glass to me. I raise the creamy liquid to my lips and sip. The sweetness takes my breath away, but immediately I feel calmer.
Allegreza watches me carefully. Then she orders the girl to leave and leans back against the couch.
“So, I assume you are here to tell me about last night’s meeting. Isn’t that right, Laura? I can’t think of anything else—anything!—that would be important enough to disturb me for at this hour and in my own home.”
Her voice sounds dangerously low. This isn’t an invitation to speak, it is an order.
“No one came,” I say. “Or rather, there was someone but she ran away. I waited an age.”
The other woman’s face clouds. “What do you mean, ran away? Why would—”
“Roberto’s been dragged away, accused of murder!”
Normally, I would never interrupt Allegreza, but I can’t keep it inside any longer. Who cares about Murano now?
“I went to his quarters and there was a woman’s body lying on the floor.” My words spill out in a rush. “I don’t know what to do. This can’t happen, it just can’t!” I grasp Allegreza’s hands in my own and hold them to my chest. “Forgive me,” I mumble. “I don’t have anyone else to turn to.”
“Let me get this right,” Allegreza says, her eyes flitting over to the drawing room door. She brings her head close to mine. “Our contact ran out on you last night, and hours later you found a dead woman in Roberto’s apartment.”
I nod.
Allegreza rises from her seat and paces across the woven rug. She crosses her arms, drumming her fingers. Then she stops and whirls round to face me, the tassels of her shawl flying out as it slips from her shoulder.
“Tell me everything you remember about the dead woman,” she says.
My mind casts back. A dark room, blood on the floor, Roberto’s face … everything merges into everything else. “I don’t know. I can barely think.…”
“Well, you had better start.” The blood has risen to Allegreza’s face and throat, covering her skin in mottled patches of emotion.
It feels as though I’ve been slapped. But Allegreza’s anger works to jolt something in my brain. A memory glimmers behind my eyes. “She wore a plain shift dress, pale in color. It was torn at the shoulder and …” I force down the choke that rises in my throat. “And stained with blood. Her skin, it was dark. I remember that.”
“Good, good. Now, Laura. This is the most important question of all, so answer honestly.” Allegreza comes to stand before me. “Did you tell anyone about your mission to Murano? And I mean anyone. Did you tell Roberto?”
I shake my head, rising to my feet to look Allegreza in the eye. “No,” I say firmly. “I would never do that. Why do you ask?”
Without answering my question, Allegreza turns and