Lucianna Read online

  “But shortly I will not be here, Brother,” she told him. “What will you do then?”

  “What? Why will you not be here? I depend upon you, Lucianna. You cannot leave me.”

  “I have been chosen by the guild to represent them in London. A small shop is being opened in which to display the fine silks of Florence. That way the London merchants may see our wares and order directly from us, rather than travel here. The Milanese are also opening a shop.”

  “A woman?” Marco was surprised. “Why can they not send a man? It’s unheard of for a woman to go. Tell them no!”

  Lucianna laughed. “I am very honored to have been chosen, and I am excited to go, Brother. The greatest benefit, of course, will be to get away from our mother’s constant matchmaking and carping. You should also know that Luca will be leaving the military and coming with me to England to learn our trade.”

  “But I can’t do this without you,” he said, ignoring most of her words. Then he realized she had said Luca would be with her. Luca?

  She laughed again. “You can’t do it at all, Marco, but you must learn, Brother, for this is how Father earns the living for our family. He will come back into the shop and teach you while I am teaching Luca in London.”

  “But Clarinda . . .” he said. Luca giving up the military for silk? What was that all about? Then he considered Clarinda again.

  “If she is not content to see you as other mistresses are, my son, she must learn. If she loves you, she will learn. Now, about your wages,” Giovanni said.

  “I will take my leave of you now,” Lucianna told them. “I have much packing to do with Balia, so I will bid you both a good day.” She absolutely did not want to be around when Marco learned what their father had decided. He would be furious. Helpless to change it, but furious nonetheless. She curtsied to both men, departing the silk shop quickly for the last time.

  Chapter 5

  It was difficult to restrain her laughter as she left the two men. She could only imagine her brother’s shock to learn his wages would now be given to his wife, and that she was instructed to give him but a small portion of coin for himself. Poor Clarinda, but she was a beautiful young girl and would find another protector quickly. Marco would now be forced to keep his mind on his business.

  Balia was busily packing when she arrived home. “I do not know how cold it is in this England,” she said.

  “Not as warm in the summer as we are, and perhaps a bit colder in the winters,” Lucianna told her. “At least that is what Roberto said.

  “Pack everything. What we do not need, we will store away. There are a few small bits of furniture that are mine that I would take. And I will take my own china and crystal with me, as well as my bedding and pillows. Is there anything else, Balia?”

  “I do not think so, but if there is, I will pack it. Your father is supplying the wagons you will need. You will bring your litter chair?”

  “Yes,” Lucianna said, “but not the bearers. I will hire English bearers. My father will supply us with good horses to ride, and they will go with us to England. I must speak with the Kira banker here. Alfredo had his monies with them once he saw the Medici having their difficulties.”

  She left Balia to her task and went to write a missive requiring the presence of one of her bankers so she might discuss her finances and this journey to England. It was sent off that same afternoon. To her surprise, one of the Kiras arrived to speak with her the following morning. He was ushered into the library, where Lucianna was comfortable doing business.

  The banker bowed. “I am Beniamino Kira, Signora Allibatore. I am told the silk guild is sending you to London to represent them. How may I serve you today?” He was a man of middle years. She would not have taken him for a Jew had she not known of his family. He was dressed conservatively and fashionably, as any Florentine banker would have been, with a dark robe and short hair.

  “You wear my father’s silk,” she noted in her greeting.

  “Your eye is sharp, signora,” he replied with a small smile.

  Lucianna laughed. “I am my father’s daughter,” she answered. Then she said, “I am going to England in a few days. I will need monies for my travels to begin with. I assume the guild has already contacted you about setting up an account for them in London. I will need to know how to access that account for their business and my own account for my personal use. Do you know with whom I will deal?”

  “David Kira,” the Florentine banker said. “We are a large family and have branches of our bank in most large cities now. He will attend to your needs. He has already been instructed to find you a good small shop in the right area, and a fine house in a respectable neighborhood. We will purchase the house for you, as per your worthy father’s instructions to us. You must not be at any disadvantage. David’s wife is finding servants for you. She is a most scrupulous woman and will see you have the best people. Her name is Yedda. Are you taking any of your own people, signora?”

  “Only my personal serving woman,” Lucianna answered him.

  “Of course, of course! She will have been with you for some time, and you are comfortable with her,” he said. “Then those escorting and driving your wagons will return when they have seen you settled?”

  “Yes,” Lucianna said. “This is a new beginning for us.”

  Beniamino Kira smiled. “You are a brave young woman, if I may say it, signora. Yedda will see to the servants. If you find yourself dissatisfied, you have but to tell her. She will help you find furnishings as well. You may trust her.”

  “I am grateful to you, Signore Kira.”

  “I shall have a purse delivered to you the afternoon before you leave. Is there any other way I may serve you today?” he asked her.

  “This house. It must be cleaned thoroughly, the furnishings covered, the servants paid. I will give each of them a reference. The house should be checked once in a while to make certain no one has broken in or stolen anything. Only the shop and my stepson’s workshop can be available to him. I have a single employee who now watches over the bookstall. He is paid weekly. Will you see to it?”

  “Of course, signora. Everything shall be as you request,” the banker told her. “Your stepson’s family is not moving in here?”

  “Under no circumstances. This is my house, my home, and I will eventually return to it to live out my old age,” Lucianna said.

  “You have no hope of this English earl, then,” the banker said.

  “I have no hope of anyone, Signore Kira, but myself. I am my own mistress now, and I will live my life to suit me alone,” Lucianna said.

  He nodded. “Yes, that will be best for you in a foreign place with no family to advise or counsel you.” Then he arose. “If our business is now done, signora, I will take my leave of you.”

  “Yes, our business is concluded for now,” she agreed. “I will escort you to the door, and I thank you for coming so promptly.”

  “Best to get the important business concluded early,” he told her with a smile as they walked to the front door. Then, with a polite bow, he departed.

  Within a few days, everything had been completed. Her possessions were all packed securely, her funds available. The servants had been paid and had their references. Her mother took several of them into her own household. Norberto’s wife took the rest. Lucianna was pleased. She made a final visit to her mother the night before she was to go.

  Orianna was not really resigned to her daughter’s decision. “You have a home in the city. A good staff, and not one, but two small businesses to engage your time. Why do you choose to leave us to go to a foreign country? I don’t understand. I am told the sun rarely shines in England. How will you tolerate that?”

  “I will manage, and it is not forever, Mother. I will remain a year or two, perhaps, and then return home. By then I will have been forgotten, and can live peacefully in Florence, free from for
tune hunters.

  “I will be too old for you to marry off, and be glad of it. Someone must be here to care for you in your old age,” Lucianna teased her mother.

  Her father chuckled at that remark, but Orianna was not amused.

  “You were always so obedient as a child, a girl, and a good wife,” she mourned. “After Bianca and Francesca, I was so proud.”

  “You spoke her name,” Lucianna said. “Have you forgiven Bianca, then, Mother?”

  “Forgiving her has nothing to do with it,” Orianna answered. “I am losing my daughter, and not to a husband, which would at least gladden my heart. I am losing you to a shop in a faraway place.”

  “Come and visit me, then, once you have Serena settled in marriage,” Lucianna suggested. “You have never traveled far from Venice or Florence. This will be an exciting adventure for you, Mother.”

  “I neither need nor want an exciting adventure,” Orianna grumbled. “Certainly not at my age!”

  They spoke for an hour or more, but Orianna could not refrain from bemoaning Lucianna’s going, and the younger woman became weary of the subject. Finally, she said, “I must go, Mother. We depart early tomorrow, and I need as much rest this evening as I can get. Traveling a long distance, I am told, is not easy.” She arose.

  Orianna immediately sprang up. “Be safe, my child! And write me as often as you can, Lucianna. Let me at least be comforted by your letters to me.” Putting her arms about her third daughter, she hugged her hard.

  Lucianna hugged her back, because she understood that her mother needed the comfort of that last embrace. And then, with her father at her elbow, she left the house of her childhood.

  “Do not let them load the carts until the first light of dawn,” he advised, “and have them keep watch when it is done and they are waiting for you to come. Do you like the horses I purchased for you?

  “They are sturdy beasts made for just this sort of journey. Keep them in England with you. You may be thought of as a shopkeeper, but you are the daughter of a wealthy man, and you have your own wealth. You will be shown respect once it is seen you possess your own home and animals. Insist at all times that you be treated with respect. Refuse to do business with those who do not show you respect. Many in the guild expect you to fail, being a woman, but you will not fail, Lucianna. You are a Pietro d’Angelo, and my daughter.”

  “You put a great deal of faith in me, Father,” she replied. “But I will not fail you, I promise.” As they reached her litter, she kissed him on his cheek.

  “God bless you, my child,” he told her when she was seated. “Godspeed!” he called after her as she was borne away.

  The following day, in midmorning, the silk merchant went to Lucianna’s house. It was tightly closed up. Norberto saw Giovanni Pietro d’Angelo from his upper-story workshop. Opening his window, he called down, “She was gone by the time I arrived, signore. Good luck and good fortune to her.”

  “Thank you,” Giovanni called up to him, and with a friendly wave of his hand, he walked the distance back to his shop.

  Lucianna had departed even before the sun rose. The carts had been loaded when the first gray light had touched the morning skies and, already awake, Lucianna was dressed for travel. Like her sisters, she preferred riding in pants so she might ride astride. Balia was more comfortable sidesaddle in her skirts. They were out through the city gates as they were opened. Lucianna was fascinated by the traffic coming into the city, merchants with goods that would be offered in the various street markets. There were so many things she had never before seen due to the secluded nature of her life, but the day was bright, warm, and sunny.

  It was a journey of several very long weeks. From Florence they traveled to Pisa, then Genova, and Torino. Finally they found themselves in France. The cities they passed through were Dijon and Reims, and finally they reached Calais. Their goods were loaded onto a freight ferry that also accepted a few passengers.

  Lucianna had heard that crossing the English Channel was an unpleasant experience. She and Balia were therefore delighted that the day was as sunny as when they had departed Florence, and the water as smooth as a pond. It was very unusual, the captain told her. She must be lucky. They reached a town on the other side of the channel called Folkstone, where it had already been arranged by the Kiras that they spend the night in a small convent that accepted guests.

  The nuns welcomed them warmly. The Kiras had wisely been most generous to the mother superior. Their wagons were brought into the convent courtyard, keeping them safe during the night. The male drivers were offered food and the stable for their resting place. Lucianna and Balia were ushered into a small guesthouse with warm fires in both the dayroom and communal bedchamber. There were no other guests that night. Their supper was brought to them and was more than generous.

  The next morning was gray, and rain threatened. The two women attended the early Mass, and although the Kiras had paid the way for them, Lucianna insisted on pressing a gold piece into the hand of the mother superior, and thanking her.

  “You will be welcome anytime,” the good woman said, considering all the things she might do for their flock with that gold piece that now rested in her hand. “If you are fortunate, you may reach London today.”

  In late afternoon, as they approached the city, David Kira rode out to meet them. “I will guide you to your new home, signora,” he said.

  “You may use English with me, Master Kira. I speak it fluently,” Lucianna told him with a smile.

  “I am happy to learn it, madame. It will make it easier for you to do business quickly,” he told her. “I hope your trip was a pleasant one, despite its length.”

  “The accommodations you arranged were excellent. It was long and tiring, but at least we ate and slept well, in comfort,” she told him. “Our crossing from Calais was unusually comfortable, with sun and smooth seas. The captain said I brought him good fortune,” she said with a small smile.

  “You were fortunate,” he told her.

  They were now in the city, yet outside of it. David Kira led her through several streets, finally stopping before a small stone house.

  “This is the house your father bought for you. My wife, Yedda, assured me it is comfortable, though small. There is also a small garden in the rear of the building, I believe, with several fruit trees. And you have a small stable. Since it is not yet dark, I would advise your men to unload as much as they can into the house, and then put the carts still full in that stable. The others can remain outside.”

  “I will need servants,” Lucianna said.

  “Yedda has employed for you a cook, a housemaid, and a stableman. When you have decided how many others you will need, she will help you to hire them, madame.”

  They entered the house, and Lucianna was pleased to find the fireplaces on both floors of the building all blazing merrily. She was relieved, for the last days of their journey had been chill with autumn in full bloom now. The cook and the housemaid came forward and curtsied politely.

  “I’ve a small hot meal, madame, if it pleases you. My name is Alvina, and the lass is Cleva.” She curtsied again.

  “A hot meal will be most welcome, Alvina,” Lucianna said. “This is my body servant, Balia. She struggles with her English, but I know you will both help her, and try not to giggle at her errors.”

  Both women nodded, looking curiously at Balia.

  “The stableman is Sam,” David Kira said. “He’s strong, and he’s reliable. My Yedda is never wrong.”

  “Thank you so much, David Kira,” Lucianna said to him.

  “I will come in midmorning tomorrow to show you the shop I have found for the Silk Merchants’ Guild of Florence. And I have already begun to spread the word of its coming and your arrival. The Milanese will regret waiting until the spring to arrive. They will be most surprised to find Florence already a presence here.”

 
“I’ll look forward to seeing the shop. Can we walk?”

  “Oh no, madame, you will have to ride.”

  “Ask your Yedda to visit me tomorrow afternoon. I can already see I will need a few more servants. Litter bearers for my litter, for one thing.”

  “She will come, but now I must go. I have a wife who worries a great deal. It comes from being Jewish in England. We are always being expelled, but the Kira bank has the wherewithal to thrive,” he said.

  “And to know who will take their bribe,” Lucianna said with a smile.

  David Kira chuckled. “Aye, madame, knowing who has the power—and can be bribed discreetly—is always valuable knowledge.” He bowed to her. “I will come in the morning.” And then he was gone.

  Chapter 6

  When he had left her, Lucianna walked slowly through her new home. To her delight, she found a small room with a blazing fireplace, lined with shelves for her books. She would need several comfortable upholstered chairs, a good straight chair, and several small tables, as well as a large rectangular table upon which to do her business accounts. The library overlooked the gardens, which were surprisingly spacious, even at the edge of the city.

  “Mistress?”

  She turned to see the maidservant, Cleva. “Yes?”

  “Alvina apologizes, but she says you and Balia must eat in the kitchen, for there is no furniture elsewhere except your bedchamber,” Cleva said in a soft, nervous voice.

  “Is it nice and warm in the kitchen?” Lucianna asked, with a friendly smile.

  “Oh yes, mistress! Alvina is a lover of heat,” the girl replied.

  “So am I,” Lucianna said. “Show me the way, Cleva!”

  Balia had been upstairs inspecting the rooms there. She was just coming down, and joined them. “The bedchambers are livable if we furnish them properly. We’ll need heavy draperies for the windows, for this London is cold,” she said in Italian.