The Time Contessa (The Time Mistress Book 3)

by Georgina Young-Ellis

  “Why do you want to go out in the heat of the afternoon when everybody else is napping?” he complained as they began their walk. “You already know what the darn cathedral looks like.”

  “Because it’s the last chance I’ll have to view it in 1509, and this is the time of day when I like best to look at churches and museums in Italy because it’s when they’re most empty.”

  “We’re going to be kept up late tonight. We should get some rest.”

  “We’ll still have time to rest. We’ll cut across the northern part of the city, avoid the center, and head straight for the cathedral. We’ll just look around a little and then go home. It will be cool inside.”

  “Well, it’s not cool now.”

  “Here, I brought some water.”

  She took a wineskin from around her shoulder. He took a sip. “It’s not very cold.”

  “You’re such a whiner today. What’s your problem?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Is it Giuliana?”

  He was silent. They walked on.

  “Is she coming tonight?” Cassandra asked.

  “I don’t know. They were invited.”

  “Piero too?”

  “Of course.”

  “Have you had a chance to settle things with her?”

  “Yes.”

  “How were you able to speak to her alone?”

  “It wasn’t easy, but I managed it.”

  “She knows you’re leaving tomorrow.”

  “Y-yes.”

  “How does she feel about it?”

  “I’m sure you can imagine.”

  She laid her hand on Jake’s shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

  “It is the way it is.”

  In forty-five minutes, they arrived at the cathedral. To reach the front entrance, they walked up a series of steps and through a towering archway, which was the unfinished portion of the building called the Facciatone.

  “Oh, this is pretty different in the future,” Cassandra remarked.

  “Yes, they reorganized it some in the 1800s and later added all the statues we don’t see yet.”

  “Remind me why this façade was never finished?’

  “The plague.”

  “Oh, right. When?”

  “I don’t remember. Sometime in the thirteenth century I think.”

  “Incredible that in all those years no one thought to finish it.”

  “Well, all this other stuff was built up around it—more so, later on. You can’t just tear it down and start over again. Besides, I love the simplicity of this giant unfinished wall with these empty windows that open into space. There’s something elegant about it.”

  “I know what you mean. I’ve always loved it too.”

  They approached the entrance to the gigantic, ornate church with its carved door. She stopped to look up. The center rose window was empty of glass, like those of the Facciatone, but braced through the center with a crisscross of bars. The blue sky shone through the round space, a stark void compared with the intricate decoration of the rest of the cathedral exterior.

  The grand front doors were open so they stepped through into the cool darkness. After a moment, Cassandra’s eyes adjusted. The black and white striped marble interior had almost a dizzying effect. She dipped a finger into the font of holy water and crossed herself.

  Jake raised an eyebrow in her direction.

  “I am technically Episcopalian, you know.”

  “Oh, all right,” he laughed.

  “You should do it as a sign of respect.”

  “Oh, yes.”

  He repeated her action in a somber manner.

  “The floor!” she said in a loud whisper.

  “One can rarely view these mosaics in the future.” Jake’s loud rasp matched hers. “They keep them covered for protection. I’ve never seen them.”

  “I can hardly bear to walk on them. They’re gorgeous!”

  They tiptoed up the center aisle. A smattering of people knelt in attitudes of prayer. Jake quietly reminded her of the names of the artists whose work adorned the walls and ceilings: Pisano, Pinturicchio, Di Bartolo.

  “And there,” he pointed out, “is Donatello’s John the Baptist. Here, just as it will be six hundred years from now.”

  They moved into the small chapel, where the slight statue was overwhelmed by its surroundings of gilt ornamentation and frescoes.

  “He looks like he’s about to speak.”

  “Jacopo?” a voice whispered from somewhere nearby.

  Cassandra jumped, and Jake whirled around. Behind them stood a woman with a black lace veil over her head. She lifted the cloth.

  “Giuliana,” Jake exclaimed while Cassandra’s heartbeat slowed to its regular tempo. “What are you doing here?”

  “Praying.”

  “We came…because my sister wanted to see the cathedral.”

  “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” said Giuliana.

  “Yes, yes. So beautiful,” Cassandra answered.

  A dark figure loomed out of the shadows.

  “Carlo accompanied me,” Giuliana said with a gesture toward the apprentice. “My husband decided he’s better suited to be a bodyguard than an artist.”

  Carlo looked down and shuffled his foot on the tiles. Cassandra winced.

  “Signor Guerrini didn’t want you to be late getting home,” Carlo said, still looking down.

  “Yes, I must go.”

  “Will we see you tonight?” Cassandra asked.

  “I don’t know.” Giuliana was staring at the floor now too.

  “I hope we will,” Cassandra offered.

  Giuliana looked up at her. Her face was flushed red. Was it excitement Cassandra saw in her eyes? Anger?

  “I hope so too.” Giuliana’s intense gaze met Jake’s. “Good-bye.” She turned and followed her hunchbacked protector out of the cathedral.

  “Well, have you seen enough?” Jake was obviously agitated.

  “Yes, let’s go.”

  The party spilled out onto the front lawn of the villa. Torches lit the summer night, throwing long shadows across the milling crowd. A young man sat on a log playing lively tunes on the lute. There was a barrel of wine from which the guests helped themselves.

  Cassandra scanned the crowd, her mask held in front of her eyes, trying to distinguish who was who. A lady approached her in a dress of brown silk, a leopard-print sash draped over one shoulder. The other was bare. She wore a headdress which looked so much like the real animal, fierce eyes staring out above the woman’s forehead, Cassandra took a step back. A black netting covered the woman’s face.

  “Do you know who I am, Cassandra?” said a familiar voice.

  “Is it you, Elisabetta?”

  “Yes! My husband and I arrived just a little while ago. You are breathtaking, my dear! No one but you, with that slight figure of yours, could wear such a dress.”

  “Is it too immodest?”

  The colors shifted as she turned her body, the garment hugging her every curve.

  “This is a masquerade, anything goes! Do you like my leopard?” Elisabetta patted the headdress.

  “Is…is it real?”

  “Yes, of course! What else would it be? It was given to my husband as a gift from a tradesman who came from India. The shawl is made of its hide. Isn’t it divine?”

  “Oh, certainly.” The thing was revolting.

  Someone grasped her arm. “Come along, Contessa, the dancing is about to start.” It was Lauro.

  She grinned at him. He wore a long, blue robe embroidered with stars, and a matching, pointed wizard’s hat on his head. Beneath the robe he had on a shirt, doublet, breeches, and hose, all in midnight-blue.

  “Come and dance, my friends,” he called to his guests.

  “Let me go retrieve my husband.” Elisabetta ran off.

  Cassandra walked with him into the large music room and set aside her mask. A musician sat at the harpsichord, ready to perform.

  “First, we will dance
the Chiaranzana!” Lauro announced.

  The steps would be difficult. Would she remember them from her years of studying period dance and the bit of review she and Jake had had?

  Couples took their places on the floor. She expected to see Jake with a partner, but he was sitting in a corner with a goblet of wine, a downcast expression on his face. He was dressed as a harlequin, with a tri-cornered hat, bells attached to each corner, sitting at a rakish angle on his head. He had taken off his black eye-mask and it rested on his lap. A sad clown.

  The music started, and the fast-paced steps took all of Cassandra’s concentration. She and Lauro danced another and another, until she was approached by Francesco.

  “My turn to dance with our muse, Maestro.”

  Lauro’s hand lingered in hers as he turned Cassandra over to the other man.

  They danced to three songs in a row until she was breathless. “Might you excuse me, Francesco?”

  “Certainly,” he replied, bowing.

  As she approached Jake, his face brightened.

  “I’m glad I could cheer you….” she began.

  “Look,” Jake cried.

  She turned. A vision in white entered the room. It was a woman dressed in floating sheaths of cloud-like silk and gauze, her face covered with a veil, volumes of fabric piled high on her head and flowing out all around, creating a long train behind.

  “It’s Giuliana.” Jake rose to go to her, but a moment later, a figure swathed in black swept in. He sported a mask formed into a leering smile with angry, pointed eyebrows over the eye slits. Over his shoulders he wore a long robe that trailed on the floor. Evil personified.

  “Heaven,” the figure shouted, pointing at the woman in white. It was Piero Guerrini’s voice. “And hell.” He swept his arm across the front of his body and laughed.

  The crowd laughed with him, all but Cassandra and Jake. Lauro approached Giuliana and led her to a seat, handing her a lute from a stand nearby. She took it as she sat, and the crowd went silent. She lifted the veil from her face and folded it back, then struck the first chord. She went on to sing a hauntingly beautiful melody while accompanying herself. Everyone stood still, mesmerized. When she finished, the people applauded, and Giuliana handed the instrument to one of the musicians. Francesco approached her, kneeled and kissed her hand. He then stood and brought her to her feet.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, I present Giuliana De Lucca Guerrini, wife of one of Siena’s most esteemed patrons, Piero Guerrini. Soon, I will finish her portrait, though no paint on canvas could do justice to her great beauty.”

  The crowd clapped again, and Giuliana curtseyed. The harpsichordist struck up the opening notes to a dance and Francesco led Giuliana to the center of the floor, while Piero left the room in the company of his male friends. Lauro again asked Cassandra to dance with him. She did, and when the next tune began, he wouldn’t let her go. Jake swooped in to take Giuliana’s hand from Francesco, distracting Cassandra enough to miss some steps. A smile spread over her colleague’s face as he and his love fell into the dance. Cassandra sighed. It was hard what they were going through, with him having to leave in two days; it wasn’t as if she didn’t sympathize.

  When the song finished, Lauro went to speak with one of his guests, and Cassandra stood back from the dance floor. Jake’s and Giuliana’s eyes were glued to one another’s. Every time their hands touched, Cassandra swore she saw a spark of electricity. When the song ended, Giuliana took off her headdress and handed it to Caterina. The room was alive with dancing and music, and Lauro approached Cassandra again. His face was flushed. He swept her into his arms.

  “I’m not letting you go again tonight.”

  He swirled her into the steps of a dance. Their hands pressed together, their faces close, their eyes locked. Then they parted, stepped away to the music, turned and faced each other again. He took her hand, they stepped apart, together, apart, then together again, closer still. He lifted her and she glided up into the air, then lightly touched down as his hands circled her waist. They turned, they stepped, he lifted her, she alighted, and every time they came together, she found his face so close, their lips could have met. The dance ended and he held his arm around her waist. She closed her eyes. He kissed her forehead. She opened them. A flash of white swept through her peripheral vision, accompanied by a jingle of bells.

  “Excuse me, Lauro,” she said. “I need to get some fresh air.”

  “Shall I come with you?”

  “No, no, I’ll be back in a minute.”

  She hurried out the back door in time to see Giuliana’s white form disappear behind the south wing of the villa. Cassandra followed, rounding the corner. Giuliana and Jake were embracing, kissing; they didn’t see her. She quickly moved back behind the wall.

  “Jacopo,” Giuliana was saying. “Is everything ready for our escape? I can’t stand it any longer.”

  “Almost. We’ll do it the day after tomorrow.” His voice faltered. “As long as I can find a coach to take us north.”

  “Are you sure Milano will be far enough to be out of my husband’s reach?”

  “Yes, yes, I’m sure.”

  “And one day, maybe we can return to England, to your family. Surely your father will accept me once I am able to get an annulment, and once he meets me.”

  “I…wouldn’t count on that, my love.”

  Giuliana’s next words were almost unintelligible. “I’m aching to be with you again, Jacopo.”

  “Me too.” Jake’s voice was urgent. “What about tomorrow, while everyone is at the pageant?”

  Giuliana hesitated. “No, Piero is not going out. He hates the crowds, he says.”

  Cassandra stepped out from around the corner. Giuliana gasped and grabbed Jake’s arm. He turned to face Cassandra.

  “What exactly is going on?” she demanded. Though the night was dark, the surprise on Jake’s face was clear. However, Giuliana ran to her and took her hands.

  “Forgive us for being secretive, sorella. I wanted to tell you when we saw you in the cathedral today, but Carlo was there, and besides, I was feeling penitent in the face of God, knowing I was about to commit a sin….”

  “Please don’t call me sister.” She drew her hands back.

  “Don’t be angry, Cassandra,” Giuliana said. “Your brother and I want to be together. There is no other choice but to go far away.”

  “Giuliana, go back into the house before your husband finds you missing and comes hunting for you. All we need is for him to find out about this and decide to kill my brother. Please go. I must speak to Jacopo.”

  “Don’t be hard on him, Cassandra. He is only doing what he knows is right.” She turned to squeeze Jake’s hand, and then ran off.

  “What are you doing, Jake?”

  “I’m going to stay, Cassie.”

  “This again?” Fury rose in her breast. This situation was her last time-journey all over again. “I’m done with this. I’m done with you, and with time - travel, and the whole thing. You want to stay? Fine, stay. You’re a grown man, do what you want. I don’t have to lecture you about changing the past and all of that. And yet, you very well could.”

  “I know. But there’s no fear of having children at least. Giuliana says she is barren, so even when my birth control runs out, we’ll be safe. We will live a quiet life together and be happy. Cassie, I’ve thought of nothing but her since I left Florence five years ago.”

  “And how is it exactly you’ve had time to work this all out with her? I thought you were spending your time with Francesco at the studio.”

  “Yes…until he fell asleep at night.”

  “But where did you meet Giuliana?”

  Jake hung his head; his voice was barely audible. “She let me into the back entrance of the palazzo.”

  “With Guerrini there? How could you take such a risk?”

  “He was usually out gambling. Even so, Giuliana has practically a whole wing to herself, and he never goes there. There’s a back s
tairway into it.”

  Cassandra stared at him, fury rising in her chest. “I cannot believe you would put yourself, and her, in that kind of danger.” By yet again following his heart, Jake had created an untenable situation .

  “I realize I may not have been using my head, but all I care about is being with her. I figure we’ve been successful in seeing Francesco safely to the point where he’ll finish the portrait, so our job is done here. I’m going to go away with Giuliana so we can finally be together. My mind’s made up.”

  “I can’t imagine that a great scientist like you will be content to live a life like that.”

  “I will be. I only need one thing: Giuliana.”

  “Great. Terrific. The day after tomorrow, I’m going back to the portal exit and to hell with you.”

  “How will you go without Lauro wanting to accompany you?”

  “I don’t know, you’ve kind of screwed that up for me. I guess I’ll think of something. But you better let me get out of here before you cause an uproar with your escape, or there may be complications for me.”

  “Yes. All right.”

  She turned to go, but stopped. “Yet Lauro will wonder why you’re not going with me.”

  “I’ll tell him other business delays me here, but that I’m sending you on.”

  She walked back to the house shaking her head, while Jake followed after her.

  Just as they re-entered the party, Piero stormed into the room. “Giuliana!”

  His wife was just putting the headdress back on.

  “We’re leaving. The dice is not good to me tonight.” He laughed loudly, grabbed her hand, and pulled her out the door.

  Jake stood in the center of the room looking after her, his face a livid red.

  Chapter Twelve

  Cassandra made her way downstairs around noon. On her way to the dining room, she glimpsed Alessandra gathering tablecloths and napkins to wash, but the girl didn’t see her. The time - traveler found the men at the table, blearily drinking their coffee. Jake’s eyes met hers. She turned away, still too angry to speak.

  Ottavia was in the kitchen making her famous eggs, fried in the cut-out center of a slice of coarse bread, the best remedy, she said, for a hangover.