they left the barge to travel on by gondola. The narrow waterways were full of the slim vessels, their raised prows slicing through the waters. On a platform at the back of the boat stood a gondolier, his long oar clasped firmly in both hands. Darcy helped Elizabeth to step down into the gondola and take her place on the cushions that were scattered inside. She lay back, reclining as she saw other people doing, and gradually accustomed herself to the rocking motion of the boat.
Gone was the snow of the mountains, gone was the cold. Here was warmth and colour and light. And what colour! The blue of the sky reflected in the water, the pinks and greens of the silken clothes, all made it a dazzling sight. They floated past palazzos of glorious beauty, adorned with balconies that hung suspended over the waters, decorated with Gothic arches and surmounted with a delicate lacework of stone. The facades were of varying colours, rising up from the dark green waters in a marvel of strength and pride.
They came to rest outside the Darcy palazzo. Elizabeth looked up at the impressive building, with its dusky pink frontage. Its piercings of elaborate arches led onto a shady terrace where dark shadows contrasted starkly with the brilliant patches of light. As she let her eyes travel upwards, she saw that it had three storeys, each one with its own colonnade.
The gondolier tied the gondola to one of the brightly coloured poles that rose from the water next to the steps and then Darcy disembarked, stepping out of the vessel and mounting to the landing platform with the sure-footedness of one used to such activity. He held out his hand to Elizabeth. She stood up cautiously and, lifting the hem of her skirt, she stepped out of the gondola, feeling it rock beneath her. She ascended the steps and then took Darcy’s arm and together they walked under the Gothic arches.
Elizabeth felt the coolness close around her as she went from sunlight to shadow, and walked through into a shady courtyard before climbing a flight of stone steps to the palazzo’s door.
They were met by the housekeeper who greeted Darcy respectfully and with warmth. Elizabeth was reminded of Mrs Reynolds, the Pemberley housekeeper, as both women clearly had a great deal of admiration for Darcy.
After welcoming them, the housekeeper showed them to a vast apartment. It was cool and softly lit by the ribbons of light drifting in from the cracks around the closed shutters. When the housekeeper opened the shutters, sunlight flooded in.
‘Well? Do you like it?’ Darcy asked.
He watched Elizabeth joyfully as she spun round in the centre of the room, her head titled back to admire the magnificent paintings on the ceiling. She had seen many grand houses in England but nothing had prepared her for the sheer size and magnificence of the drawing room, with its historical and allegorical paintings on the ceiling. Even Rosings had not been so grand.
‘It’s breathtaking,’ she said.
She wandered out onto the balcony and looked at the teeming life below: the gondolas going up and down the Grand Canal, the people going to and fro.
‘I could look at this view for ever and never grow bored,’ she said. ‘How long have the Darcys owned the palazzo?’
‘For a hundred years,’ he said, coming up behind her. ‘Venice is still beautiful but she is not what she once was. You should have seen her, Elizabeth, in all her glory, when she was at the height of her powers.’
His voice was hypnotic and as he spoke she could see it all in her mind’s eye: the early settlers taking refuge on the myriad tiny islands in the middle of the salt lagoon, taming the tidal waters to form a thoroughfare of canals; the city that grew up around it; the pride of the Doge and the splendour of the Doge’s palace; the building of the basilica of St Mark; the travelling Venetians who explored the seas, bringing back treasures for the front of the basilica; the great explorers who discovered new lands. He spoke of the clearing of the buildings around St Mark’s and the paving over of the great square; he told her of the Campanile, with its great bell; of the building of ships to send out into the world for exploration and trade; the rise of the Rialto, with its varied shops selling goods from all over the world; and the merchant princes who grew