The Alchemist's Pursuit Read Free Page B

since immediately after Christmas, and she began describing some of the better masques and banquets she had attended. Her escorts at such affairs would have paid many ducats for the privilege, whereas I can only take her to the free street shows, and rarely get the chance, because she is so much in demand. Her closets are packed with such a multitude of exotic Carnival costumes that I have never seen her in the same one twice.
    Nostradamus quickly grew bored, laid down his fork, and leaned back.
    â€œTell us about the victim, madonna.”
    It was criminal to spoil a good meal with such a topic, but Aspasia would never be so crude as to reject her host’s conversational lead.
    â€œLucia was about forty. She retired two years ago and turned her house into a home for street girls anxious to reform. Nuns from Santa Spirito supervised, so that there could be no scandal. The last time she was seen was when she went off in a gondola with a masked man. She had said that they were going to the Piazza to dance.”
    I decided that I agreed with my master; the case was impossible. It had probably been impossible right from the beginning and after three weeks the trail was ice-cold.
    â€œHow did she die?” he asked.
    â€œThe notary did not know. He hinted that she was probably a suicide but the sbirri were calling it murder so she could be buried in hallowed ground.”
    Who could tell, after the body had spent a week in the lagoon?
    â€œWho found the corpse?” Nostradamus snapped. “Who identified it after so long in the water? Are you completely certain that the dead woman is who you think she was? If she was dragged under by the weight of her clothes she would surface when distension of the corpse buoyed it up, but putrefaction would be well along by then.”
    Violetta understandably laid down her fork. “I recognized the jewelry when it was shown to me.”
    â€œThat it was returned at all makes me highly suspicious,” the Maestro said angrily. “The first instinct of any Venetian recovering a body is to strip it of valuables. Fishermen, I assume? Bah! They’re all rogues. Even the sbirri would not pass up such an opportunity. Who found the body, and where? Who delivered it to the authorities? How did they locate you to identify the jewels?”
    â€œI do not know, lustrissimo . These are things Alfeo could find out for you.”
    â€œI have more important things for him to do. Your friend committed suicide. Or she was drunk and fell into a canal.”
    â€œNot Lucia.”
    Nostradamus snorted. “Alfeo, call Bruno. I am going to lie down. See your friend home and come right back. You have work to do.” He had been sleeping so badly the last few nights, that he had started taking to his bed in the middle of the day, not his normal practice.
    Before I could rise, Violetta turned to look at me and I was startled to see a golden glint in her eyes.
    â€œI become so nervous when I think of this terrible act,” she said. “Many ladies in my profession feel the need of a strong, full-time defender. I do believe I shall have to hire a reliable bodyguard.”
    I said nothing. What she was hinting was the worst of nightmares for me, my greatest fear. I know how to use a sword and if my beloved ever decides that she needs a guardian, I shall be lost. Loving a courtesan is one thing, living off her earnings is another, but I can refuse Violetta nothing. If she wants me as her bravo, then her bravo I must become. Then the Grand Council will order my name struck from the Golden Book, a noble house that has endured for centuries will end, and scores of ancestral ghosts will wail in shame.
    The Maestro knew exactly what she meant and scowled at her furiously. Those gold serpent eyes had warned me that he was now dealing with Delilah, who is as deadly as a spiderweb, but he does not know her as well as I do. Delilah can lie like sand on a beach.
    â€œRubbish. Alfeo,