Lucianna Read Free Page B

she crowed as they walked home from San Piero. “If you permitted, he would walk out with you. I see the longing in his eyes to know you better, mistress.”
    “You have a great imagination, and a romantic nature,” Lucianna replied. “We have spoken briefly once. About books. Nothing more. Besides, I could hardly walk out with a strange gentleman while I am still in mourning.”
    “You are a good and respectful lady,” Balia said. “Master Alfredo could not have had a better wife in his old age, but the master is dead. He was an old gentleman, and you a young girl. Is it not time for you to find a bit of happiness?”
    “It is expected of me that I mourn my husband a year. I am glad to do so, for he was more than deserving, Balia.”
    “I cannot argue that,” Balia agreed.
    The following afternoon, the Earl of Lisle came to pick up the book of poetry he had ordered rebound for his queen. “Good day,
signora
,” he said, greeting her with a smile. “I have come to get my purchase. May I see it first?”
    Lucianna handed it to him, watching as he took the volume and examined it closely, turning it over in his hands. “I hope it pleases you, my lord.”
    “It is exquisite, the leather beautiful, the lettering perfect. Please thank Master Norberto for me. He is a true artist,
signora
.” He handed it back to her for wrapping and drew out his purse, never showing any distress at the price she charged him.
    “I hope your queen will treasure it,” Lucianna said. “When do you plan to return to England, my lord?”
    “Not for another month or two,” he said. “I would see Rome and Venice before I return.”
    “My grandfather lives in Venice,” she told him. “I have never been to Rome, however.”
    At that moment the bell to the shop door jangled, opened, and, to Lucianna’s great surprise, Orianna Pietro d’Angelo entered. Lucianna wasn’t quite certain what to do, but the earl was quick. “I shall bid you good day,
Signora
Allibatore. And I shall see you on the sixth of next month.” With an elegant bow, he departed with his wrapped package, nodding politely to the visitor as he went. The door to the shop closed behind him.
    “Who was that attractive gentleman, and why was he not speaking Italian?” Orianna wanted to know.
    “He is an English lord, Mother. The Earl of Lisle. He purchased a book of poetry and had Norberto rebind it to his fancy,” Lucianna said.
    “Ah, that is the gentleman. He purchased a large quantity of your father’s finest silks this morning. And he paid with gold as easily as if he were counting out pennies,” Orianna said. “Your father told me he was buying the silks for the English king to give his bride.”
    “The book was also for his queen,” Lucianna told her mother. “I am so glad Father got his custom.”
    Orianna looked closely at her daughter. “Perhaps you recommended your father’s silks to this man?”
    “It might have come up in the conversation,” Lucianna said.
    “Thank you,” Orianna responded, smiling. “It was a large order, and he was pleased. You have a head for business, Lucianna. More than Marco, certainly. I wish you would leave this dusty bookshop and help your brother. Could not Norberto run it?”
    “He is too shy, Mother. He simply wishes to do his beautiful binding, nothing more,” Lucianna told her mother. “Alfredo loved his business and his books.”
    “Alfredo was a good man, and he did very well by you, I will admit,” her mother said. “But you have no children by him. Your first loyalty should be to the Pietro d’Angelos, who are your blood kin.”
    “I will consider it, Mother,” Lucianna told her parent. When later she thought about it, she realized she should far prefer to work with her father’s silks than within the old bookshop. Still, she had no intention of moving back into her mother’s house. She knew Orianna’s real intent was to marry her off again to another suitable man. Yet she could remain in her