We were puzzled. Then I remembered Lorenzo’s admiring himself in Philip’s opera hat. I said I wanted to go to our room. I did so. The hat box was empty; nor was the cloak in the wardrobe.
I hurried down to tell them.
As a result we were taken to see the bloodstained cloak. There was no doubt whatsoever. It was Philip’s. By that time the hat had been found. As soon as I saw it I guessed what had happened.
We were very upset for this touched us deeply. We had been amused by Lorenzo and enjoyed our encounters with him. I remembered that he had particularly asked us if we should be out that night, and knowing that we should not be, he had taken Philip’s cloak and hat and so had been mistaken for a wealthy tourist and met his death.
It was so tragic and we felt deeply involved because he had been killed in Philip’s clothes. I kept thinking of him, sauntering along, feeling himself to be a very fine figure of a man, irresistible to women. His vanity had killed him; but it was such a harmless, lovable vanity.
Poor Lorenzo—so full of life and so equipped to enjoy it and then, because of one foolish act… it was over.
That was the end of the honeymoon for us. We could no longer be happy in Florence. The place had taken on a new aspect. These streets with their fine buildings, full of shadows of a glorious past, were indeed sinister.
Wherever I went I saw Lorenzo … strolling out, pleased with life and himself, and then suddenly the assassin’s knife had descended on him.
“I think,” said Philip, “that it would be better if we went home.”
Tragedy in the Forest
How different was our homeward journey compared with that on which we had set out. I was sure Philip, like myself, could not stop thinking of Lorenzo. He had come only briefly into our lives but I was sure that we should never forget him and that it was in Philip’s cloak and hat that he had met his death.
I thought of him—setting out so jauntily, seeing himself as a sophisticated man about town … and then suddenly death striking him. I wondered if he had had time to realize what was happening to him and why. Perhaps … for one terrifying moment …
What a vicious attack it had been. He had been struck several times and nothing taken. That was strange. Perhaps it had not been robbery, but a long-standing quarrel. Perhaps the stories of his conquests had been true and there was some jealous rival. No. The cloak and the hat were significant. He had been mistaken for a tourist.
It occurred to me that it might so easily have been Philip and that really frightened me. I told him of my fears, clinging to him as though I was afraid to let him go.
He said: “This has changed Florence for us.”
And I agreed.
So we came home.
Grand’mere was waiting for us, her hands clasped, her eyes anxious as she surveyed me. She was soon smiling: nothing could hide the contentment in my face.
“I am so happy … so happy,” she said. “It is a dream come true. Oh, how rarely does that happen in this life! One plans … one hopes … and then it does not come. But this time … yes. You are happy, mon amour. He is good, is he not, this man? And good men are rare … and those who find them are fortunate.”
“It was wonderful. I must tell you about Florence. The beautiful buildings … the pictures … the sculptures … everything … the lovely bridges over the river … the little shops there…the streets…” I trailed off. The dark, narrow streets where a man could go out jauntily … happily … in love with life and himself … and meet death.
“What is it?” asked Grand’mere, all concern.
I told her about Lorenzo and she listened intently. “And he was wearing Philip’s cloak and hat?”
“Yes. He must have been mistaken for a rich tourist and that was why …”
“Mon Dieu … it could have been …”
I nodded. “That’s what I thought. That is why we have come home earlier than we intended.”
“Thank God you are safe. Thank God you are happy. This is how it must stay. I missed you. I thought of you all the time. I wondered. Marriage means much in a woman’s life. There are some who did not find happiness in it, but I see you have and that makes me happy.”
But what had happened to Lorenzo had thrown a shadow even over Grand’mere’s contentment. I could see that she could not forget what might have happened to Philip.
Lady Sallonger was pleased to see me back.
“You have been away so long,” she said. “Now I hope you are not going away again. That would be really thoughtless of you.”
I was no longer subservient. I was a daughter of the house, married to one of the sons. Mrs. Philip Sallonger—no longer plain Lenore Cleremont.
I said: “Philip wants us to find a house in London. He will be there most of the time and of course I shall be with him.”
“He can come here whenever he likes,” she protested. “It is his home as well as the rest of us.”
“I know. But we are going to have our own house.”
“Tiresome,” said Lady Sallonger. “Well, it will be some time before these things can be arranged. I have The Moonstone now. I heard it is most exciting. I thought we might start it this afternoon.”
I could see that she wanted to bring me back into bondage, though I must say that one of my most agreeable tasks was reading to her.
But Lady Sallonger would have to realize that life had changed.
Cassie embraced me warmly. She said: “It has been so dull here, Lenore. I’ve been longing for you to come back. Your grandmother and I were counting the days. I had a calendar and used to mark them off. We were so pleased when you came home early.”
She listened wide-eyed while I told her about Florence and the terrible thing that had happened to Lorenzo.
“If he hadn’t taken the cloak it wouldn’t have happened,” she said awestruck.
“We don’t know. But he did seem to have been mistaken for a tourist. On the other hand it might have been the outcome of some quarrel. He was always talking about his conquests and the Italians are a fiery people. They are always having feuds and vendettas.”
“Romeo and Juliet and all that. But how upsetting for you.”
“It was. If you had seen him, Cassie …”
“How I wish I had!”
“It was just horrible to think of that happening to him.”
“Because he was wearing Philip’s cloak. It might have happened to Philip.”
“Don’t speak of it.”
“You do love him, don’t you? I’m so glad. I love him too. This makes you really a part of the family.”
“Yes, I am very glad about it and so is Grand’mere.”
“So we are all happy.”
Julia came to the house accompanied by the Countess. The latter greeted me warmly, Julia less so. She looked at me with grudging admiration. Really, I thought, this capturing of a husband became an obsession with these girls because so much was made of their coming out. I was lucky. It hadn’t happened to me. My entrance into the world might have offended convention but it had given me Grand’mere and brought me to Philip. I must throw off the shadow Lorenzo’s death had cast over me; I must accept my happiness and rejoice in it.
Charles arrived at The Silk House. He and Philip were clo-setted together for a long while while Philip, as he said, caught up with what had been going on during his absence. One of the managers came down with a case full of papers and Philip decided that he would stay at The Silk House with the manager and Charles while he sorted them out.