I then turned to my meeting with Proietti and his troubles with his daughter, telling the story while it was fresh in my memory.
Grenville listened with flattering attention, but he frowned as I concluded. “Tricky to be drawn into another man’s affairs. I hope this Proietti does not call upon you to extricate him from prison when the conte objects to his home being stormed. And that you are not taken to prison with him.”
“I am certain it will not come to that.” I spoke confidently, but truth to tell, I was not certain. What I knew of Proietti was only that he’d been an officer under the Austrians and that he was concerned about his daughter.
“I will not ask you why you chose to help him,” Grenville said, eyes twinkling. “I know it is difficult for you to keep yourself to yourself.”
He meant that I was too curious by half and could not mind my own business. “I know how I’d feel if my daughter had run off with a questionable gentleman. I am happy Gabriella has fallen for a staid young Frenchman her stepfather and step-uncle approve of, but even then, I am uneasy.”
“From what I have heard, young Monsieur Devere is a good lad.” Grenville’s tone was meant to be soothing, I supposed.
“That remains to be seen,” I answered with caution.
I’d been told the young man’s name—Emile Devere—and that he worked for his family—I was vague on the nature of their business. He and Gabriella had been acquainted with each other from childhood, but I knew little more about him.
“We will meet him soon enough.” Grenville’s answer was breezy. Emile would be joining us at the villa after Grenville and I made our trip south to Napoli and Pompeii. “This aristocrat you met this morning interests me at bit. Who is he?”
“He’s called Trevisan and apparently is from Milan, which seemed to be a terrible thing in Proietti’s eyes.”
Grenville pondered this, then shook his head. “I have not heard of him, though I imagine my cronies here have. Gossip is rife among the British ex-patriates.”
“It is none of my affair, as you have pointed out.” I waited for Grenville to agree with me, to tell me to put the incident behind me and concentrate on our upcoming journey.
“This has never stopped you before,” Grenville concluded. “Or me. And if this daughter is in a dire place, I could not turn my back and leave her there.”
I relaxed in some relief, pleased he understood—but then Grenville had a daughter of his own. There had been something I hadn’t liked about Trevisan, though whether it was simply because he’d stubbornly refused to let Proietti leave with his daughter, or something more sinister I could not tell. Trevisan’s mother had been an enigma as well.
“Proietti showed remarkable restraint,” I observed. “I’d have throttled the man and dragged Gabriella away. Or even better, have Brewster escort Gabriella out while I let Conte Trevisan know what I thought of him absconding with respectable young ladies.”
“And been arrested for your pains,” Grenville pointed out. “We are strangers here. I do not know the exact penalties for attacking such a man, or even for challenging him to a duel, but I imagine they are dire. Perhaps Proietti decided it prudent to live to fight another day.”
“Yes, he might be more level-headed than I am.” I drained the rest of the rich brew and set the cup back into its saucer. “Or there could be more to this situation than I comprehend.”
“If we are wrong, and it is a family squabble the two men and the daughter will work out, then …” Grenville shrugged his well-clad shoulders. “So be it.”
We each gave the other a nod, in agreement.
“Also do not forget I must at some time locate the man from whom Mr. Denis wishes to purchase a piece of artwork,” I said. “He assures me it is a perfectly legal transaction, a simple matter of negotiating a price and carrying the statue to him.”
Grenville’s brows rose. “Are you certain there is nothing important concealed in this statue? It does not convey a secret message? It is not being pursued by the crowned heads of Europe?”
Denis had sent me on such errands before. However, after our last adventure that had nearly ended in disaster, Denis had declared he was inmydebt. His rivalry with another man had put my family in grave danger, and he’d acknowledged his regret they’d been dragged into it.
I sat back in my chair, observing a sunbeam that had escaped the clouds and filtered through the window. Even the drabbest days here could brighten unexpectedly. “Denis gave me his word there is nothing to it. Before you argue, I am inclined to believe him. I am to give the owner the sum he asks, provided to me by Denis’s man of business in Rome, and then take the statue to him.”
“Why cannot the man of business make the transaction?” Grenville asked. “Bundle it up and send it to Denis himself?”
I had considered this. “I rather think Denis doesn’t trust anyone to keep their hands off it, and I must say, I don’t blame him. Possible for a man of business to switch it for a fake, or for a lad sent to deliver it to keep it and pretend it is lost. Denis knows I will do everything in my power to transport it safely from the seller’s house to his.”
“I concede the point.” Grenville signaled to Matthias, his head footman, that he could begin clearing the table. “I will keep my objections to myself, as long as you take me with you for this transaction.”
“I would welcome the company, of course. As well as your expertise in antiquities.”
“Done,” Grenville said, and raised his empty coffee cup in salute. “We will do all and regale our ladies with the tale.”
I lifted my cup in return and agreed.
We had already decidedto explore Rome a bit more before we left it behind. Not long after we finished breakfast, I took up my hat and walking stick and followed Grenville out. Brewster came with us, as usual, and as usual grumbled about looking after us both, but I did not miss the glint of interest in his eye as we walked. He was as intrigued by antiquities as we were.
