Filomena nodded for the little group of servants to go about their business. “I will show you your new home,” she said. “I imagine it is smaller than what you are used to,signora, but you will be comfortable. Your esteemed father has told me that you have been ill, and that life in the city is no longer for you. Is your husband dead?”
“No,” Bianca said.But I wish he were,she thought silently. “I am seeking an annulment, Filomena. It was only discovered what an evil man my husband was after the marriage had taken place. He is now in prison awaiting his fate.”
“Perhaps they will execute him, and then you will not have to bother with an annulment,” Filomena said cheerfully. She was a country woman, and for her, simple solutions were always the best resolutions to any problem.
Bianca burst out laughing. “Yes, that would be a good result, but it is unlikely to happen. My husband is a wealthy and powerful man in Florence. He will escape his just due, but I will eventually get my annulment. For now, I hope I am well hidden.”
“We will protect you,signora,” Filomena said. Then she showed Bianca her new home, and was content to see that hersignorawas very pleased.
The entry to the villa was open and spacious. It had a center staircase leading up to its second floor. The main level of the house consisted of two small salons that were furnished with upholstered wooden chairs and tables. There was a little library with a long table and a straight-backed chair, as well as a dining room that held a table for six, and chairs to match. All of the rooms had doors leading outside into the gardens. The walls were paneled in light-colored fruitwood, and the floors were tiled in squares of pale beige. The dining room walls, however, were painted in a mural depicting a stag hunt. The library walls were built-in bookcases. Its ceiling was coffered.
Bianca followed Filomena up the wide staircase to the second level. There were three bedchambers, each with a tiled fireplace. Two of the bedchambers had alcoves to house a servant. But the chamber that was Bianca’s had a small separate windowed room for Agata. Bianca’s canopied bed was hung with pale pink silk brocade. Her windows overlooked the gardens and the sea. There was a tall painted armoire on one wall, and a matching chest at the foot of the bed.
“I hope this chamber will be suitable,signora,” the housekeeper said.
Bianca looked around the chamber. The tiles surrounding her fireplace were painted with a vine that had magenta flowers. The vine with its flora twined from tile to tile, giving the impression of a living plant. “It’s lovely!” she said, smiling.
“I will leave you then to settle yourself,signora. Agata will be with you shortly.” Then Filomena hurried off.
Bianca quickly realized that the windows overlooking the sea were actually doors that opened onto a balcony with a decorative black iron railing. Opening the doors, she stepped out and looked about her. To her left, she could see nothing but the steep, rocky green hills, but to her right and perhaps a mile in the distance there was another villa. She wondered if it was occupied.
Agata bustled into the bedchamber, calling her inside. “It is not your father’s palazzo in Florence, but it is charming, mistress. Can you be happy here?” She looked anxiously at Bianca, her warm brown eyes filled with concern.
“Yes,” Bianca said, “I can be happy here. I could be happy in a peasant’s hut as long as I do not have to put up with Sebastiano Rovere, Agata.”
“May he burn in hell, and soon!” Agata said, making the sign of the evil eye.
Bianca settled easily into country life at Luce Stellare. She actually had more freedom in her life than she had ever had. She spent time exploring the gardens that Primo and Ugo were restoring. Unlike her father’s palazzo, which had its kitchens on the lowest level of the house, the villa’s kitchens were in the rear of the main floor. Outside its door was a thriving herb garden with both sweet and savory herbs. There was a small kitchen garden of vegetables, but there was also a large vegetable garden in another area that had two apricot trees as well.
The flower gardens were a delight not only to the eyes but also to the nose.
As autumn progressed, of course, the gardens died back, but the roses would continue to bloom until a frost signaled to them that it was time to rest. Frosts were light here on the coast, as the sea warmed the air. In Florence, it would grow wet and chilly, but here at Luce Stellare the weather would be mild.
The beach was safe to walk, Filomena told Bianca. She might even ride her horse, but the truth was Bianca enjoyed walking along the water. To Agata’s relief, she wanted no companion with her. The servingwoman liked the gardens, but now having seen the sea, she was wary of it. She was content helping with the poultry, and she much enjoyed herding the goats. It was a calling she would have never suspected she possessed.
“There is a country woman in you somewhere,” Filomena teased her.
“Bah! Even my old grandmother was born in Florence,” Agata said.
Her first night at the villa, Bianca stood on the balcony of her bedchamber gazing up at the quarter moon. The clear black sky was so full of stars she quickly realized why Luce Stellare had gained its name. A faint warm breeze brought the scent of the roses in the garden. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. Then, remembering the distant villa, she turned her head and saw that it had lights. Someone was obviously in residence.
Bianca’s curiosity was aroused. Who, she wondered, was her neighbor? Was it an old gentleman or lady living out his or her final days? Or perhaps a family? Since she was not going to socialize, it was unlikely she would ever know. But the following morning, she queried Filomena about the other villa. Her housekeeper would know, Bianca was certain.
“Who lives in that villa on the hillside?” she asked. “Do you know?”
“I do not know for certain,” Filomena said, “but I am told it is some foreign prince. He comes and goes, for he does business in the city. They say he stands high in the Medicis’ favor.” She shrugged. “I have never seen him.”
“I have.” The little housemaid Rufina spoke up.
“You have?” Filomena glared at the girl. “And just where were you that you saw this man?” she demanded to know.
“On the hillside,” Rufina said. “He is very tall with dark hair. He was walking the beach like oursignoradoes. He didn’t see me, Filomena. He seemed to be in thought.”
“I do not recall my father speaking of a foreign prince who carries on business in the city. He is not a cloth merchant of any kind, for if he were, my father would know him, particularly if he carried on his trade with the Medici family. He cannot be anyone of great importance,” Bianca said.
“He keeps to himself,” Filomena remarked. “When we began work to restore Luce Stellare, he exhibited no curiosity, nor did he send his servants snooping to see what we were about. This is a good thing for you,signora. Particularly if he goes back and forth to the city. You don’t want him gossiping about the lone female who is his new neighbor.”
“Heaven forbid!” Bianca exclaimed. Filomena was right. She didn’t need a nosy neighbor or his wife, for he certainly had a wife if he was a respectable man, someone who would attempt to make friends with her or wonder why she was at the villa without a man to watch over her. No. Her curiosity was satisfied, and it would be best if she and her neighbor kept to themselves.
