I walked in. Almost half of it has been destroyed, Livia – burnt to the ground. When I reached our villa I could hardly believe it was untouched. Your mother was distraught, but alive – and even Nonno has survived.’ His voice cracked as he began to weep again. ‘We’ve spent the last few days trying to look after all the widows and orphans left abandoned in the village. The house is full of women and children with nowhere else to go.’
‘Thank God you’re alive,’ was all Livia could say, as tears poured down her face.
In order to avoid the Germans locating the transmitter’s signal, Livia was under orders to move it to a new location every day. But with many buildings destroyed by Allied bombing, there was a shortage of suitable safe houses – in particular, buildings with an attic where she could get a good signal. And every time she approached someone to borrow a room, she risked being betrayed – so many partisan cells were being infiltrated by the enemy.
Radio Cora had received a message from General Alexander requesting some urgent information – details of German fortifications, map references of the mined areas south of Florence, as well as possible airdrop positions. They also needed information about the numbers of partisans operating in the area. Running out of transmission locations, Livia decided she would have no option but to use her apartment. It was completely against the rules of the cell, but if she kept the transmission short, she reasoned she would probably get away with it. She met with Cosimo later that day at the university and told him her plan.
‘It’s far too dangerous,’ he said. ‘We should find somewhere neutral.’
‘I can’t,’ she replied, ‘not in the time. I’ve got to transmit tomorrow afternoon. That gives us only twenty-four hours to pull the information together. There’s just one problem… one thing you ought to know.’ She paused. She had sworn to her father a year before that she would never reveal the family’s existence, but now she felt she had no choice. ‘We are hiding a family in the apartment.’
‘A family?’ He looked puzzled.
‘A Jewish family. They’ve been with us for months. In fact, they’ve just had a baby.’
‘Is that why you won’t ever let me come over?’
She nodded.
‘You are a truly wonderful person,’ he said, putting his arms around her and kissing her. ‘More wonderful than I had ever realised.’
She blushed, enjoying the sensation of being held. He made her feel safe, if only for a few seconds.
‘But seriously, Livia,’ he went on, ‘surely that’s another reason not to transmit from your apartment. You are risking more lives than just your own.’
‘Yes, I realise that. The problem is, General Alexander’s request is urgent. They want the information by tomorrow. We have to do this now. The faster we act, the sooner we can bring this whole nightmare to an end, don’t you see?’
‘I don’t know,’ he said doubtfully. ‘It’s too risky.’
‘You should meet the family,’ Livia suggested, ‘they’re lovely.’
‘I’m sure they are,’ Cosimo began, ‘but really, Livia—’
‘Come back with me now, before the curfew,’ she urged him. ‘Please?’
The family were initially reluctant to leave the attic to meet Cosimo, but Livia persuaded them. ‘He’s in the Resistance with me; he’s on our side.’
Over supper, they all gradually relaxed, drinking the last of Giacomo’s grappa and a bottle of red wine Livia found in her father’s wardrobe. ‘He was obviously saving it for something special, but I think this is an occasion he would approve of. Here’s to the end of the war,’ she declared, raising her glass with an optimistic flourish.
‘And to a kinder world,’ answered Jacob softly.
After dinner, Livia went to her room to monitor Radio Londra, leaving Cosimo amusing Matteo. When she came back into the sitting room she found him performing card tricks, Matteo sitting, fascinated, at his feet.
‘I didn’t know you could do that,’ Livia said, impressed.
‘Every boy knows how to do card tricks,’ Cosimo replied, flipping the cards onto the table. ‘Here,’ he said to Matteo, ‘you have a go.’
Livia watched Cosimo explaining the trick to the little boy, and tried to imagine him with a child of their own.
Later that evening, after the family had retreated to their attic eyrie, Livia took Cosimo by the hand and led him to her bedroom. They lay down together in her narrow bed and held one another. Sometime, in the deep dark of the night, they made love. For both of them