the apartment, Signor Lombardi opened his door a crack.
‘Buonasera, Signor Lombardi,’ said Giacomo cheerfully. ‘Are you well?’
‘Thank you, yes,’ the old man replied gruffly, before shutting the door again.
Ten minutes later, Giacomo returned, accompanied by a man dressed in a shabby overcoat and trilby hat. Livia stood up as her father brought the visitor into the sitting room.
‘Livia, my darling,’ said Giacomo, ‘can I introduce you to Lieutenant Marshall of the British Army.’
‘Good evening.’ The man spoke Italian, but with an interesting southern Italian accent.
‘Do sit down,’ Livia replied.
‘Grappa, Lieutenant?’ asked Giacomo.
‘Thank you, and do please call me David.’ He sat down on the sofa and looked around him. ‘What a lovely room.’
‘I’m sorry it’s so cold,’ Livia said. ‘We can’t get any firewood.’
‘Please don’t worry on my account. I was brought up in Britain, where you break the ice off the water in the bowl before you wash every morning. Besides, it’s warmer in here than outside.’ He smiled cheerfully, and rubbed his hands together.
‘I’ve not told my daughter anything yet.’ Giacomo handed him a drink. ‘Apart from the fact that you are part of British Intelligence.’
‘Delicious,’ said David, sipping his drink. ‘Well, I’d better explain why I’m here. Our job in military intelligence is primarily sabotage, but we also support the Resistance, both here and in France. The Allied army is moving slowly up from the south, as you probably know, but we’ve got a bit stuck down in Naples. The Germans see Italy as an essential part of their defence, and to that end have created certain defensive lines – a couple to the south of Rome and two more to the west of the Apennines. The weather is proving a bit of an obstacle to the Allied advance too – who knew you had snow this deep?’ He looked out at the blizzard that was now swirling around the building.
‘The good news,’ he went on, ‘is that the Resistance here in Italy is getting stronger every day and will prove to be an impressive adversary to the Nazis. Our unit’s job is liaison and support – by disrupting the enemy, of course, but also supplying groups like yours with vital information and equipment.’
‘What sort of equipment?’ Livia asked.
‘Weapons, and technical support of all kinds. We get airdrops from Allied planes from time to time. In fact, we have one planned for tomorrow night. But I’m rather worried about the weather; finding canisters filled with guns in deep snow is no joke.’ He laughed, and Giacomo refilled his glass. ‘Your father tells me that you are the Pd’A’s radio operator, here in Florence.’
‘Yes,’ Livia replied uncertainly. ‘That makes it sound more impressive than it really is. I only have a short-wave radio, but it’s good quality and we can pick up Radio Londra. I pass on information to the group, and also turn that information into articles for our newspaper – so the wider public know what’s going on.’
‘Excellent,’ said the Lieutenant. ‘Well I wonder if you might extend your role a little?’
She nodded.
‘I have with me a rather special radio.’ He pointed to a black leather case he had deposited on the dining table when he came in. ‘If you are willing, I’d like to show you how to use it.’
Livia looked up at her father questioningly, while the British officer unlocked the case, revealing a metal unit festooned with knobs and dials.
‘At our last Pd’A council meeting,’ Giacomo explained to his daughter, ‘it was agreed that we should work with British Intelligence in this matter. We pass information to them and they in turn can assist us. We both benefit. In the process, we gather more information that we can send out to partisans around Florence. To support this work, we’ve decided to create our own radio station.’
‘The idea,’ said the Lieutenant, ‘is that you transmit, once, or even twice a day, if you can manage it – information about what the Germans are up to here in Florence – troop movements, armaments, anything really. That information will be picked up by us and will help our troops understand the lie of the land here in Florence; it will be vital to our being able to rescue the city from the grip of the Nazis. Does that seem clear?’
‘Yes, very clear,’ she replied solemnly.
‘In particular,’ he went on, ‘we need help with establishing safe places for our Allied airdrops. Without that information, the arms we drop will fall into enemy hands. So knowing where it’s