Read 5 - Her Deadly Mischief for Free Online

moment. “Just when the wealthy folk were returning from their summer estates. Late August or early September, I suppose.”
    “Roughly two months then.”
    The dwarf nodded.
    After a pensive silence on all sides, Messer Grande observed, “A wager involves a stake. What was the loser to forfeit?”
    “Diamonds,” Pamarino replied solemnly. “The winner would lay claim to anything and everything she fancied from the other’s jewel box.”
    Torani spoke up again: “Surely the lucky woman would also be acknowledged as the reigning queen of all the courtesans in Venice.”
    The dwarf shrugged. “Glory is all very well, but it can’t be sold to put meat on the table. It was diamonds that drove this wager.”
    “If I might be excused for interrupting…” I was surprised to hear Benito’s wavering treble speak up. My manservant took a step forward, cocked his head like a puzzled canary, and didn’t continue until Messer Grande nodded his permission.
    “Hasn’t Alessio Pino made an open virtue of restraint because of his lengthy betrothal to Maria Albergati?” Benito asked. “They say that Cesare Pino and Signor Albergati wrangled over the match for months. Everyone is speculating why Signor Albergati finally agreed for his noble line to be mixed with that of a common glassmaker. Now that young Maria has come out of the convent and a wedding date is set, her father visibly writhes at the mere mention of the engagement. It is to gain some measure of his respect that Alessio Pino behaves as a model of decorum in all his dealings and appearances in society.”
    Benito’s lengthy comment drew a grinning nod from Messer Grande, a hollow laugh from Pamarino, and a questioning look from me.
    Ignoring the others, Benito sent me a knowing smile.
    In truth, I would never disparage his grasp of the facts: my manservant must be the deepest well of gossip in Venice. I was merely astonished that he bothered to beg leave before he spoke.
    People often ask why I tolerate Benito. For one thing, he is a castrato like myself, trained in a Naples conservatory just as I was. Though the stage didn’t suit him, he understands me and the needs of my voice in a way that whole men cannot. And then, I must admit that his irreverence often pleases me. Where good manners and fear of giving offense often render me mute, Benito plunges ahead. Besides, no one, not even Liya, prepares my morning chocolate or calms my stage jitters quite like Benito.
    Messer Grande turned to Maestro Torani. “Signor Albergati keeps a box at this theater, does he not?”
    “Yes. His grandfather was one of the original subscribers.”
    “I didn’t see him here tonight as I looked around the auditorium.”
    “You wouldn’t have, Excellency, his box is directly above yours. I recall that it was full, like most of the others. Family, I suppose. I noticed several young people, including one awkward young miss that could be Maria.”
    Messer Grande rubbed his chin. “I wonder if Zulietta realized that Alessio’s intended bride might well be watching the culmination of her mischievous wager.”
    Pamarino set his glass down so hard I feared the stem would break. With a wiggle of his legs, which didn’t quite reach the floor, he jumped to his feet and planted himself in front of Messer Grande. Since the chief constable was still seated, the dwarf addressed him face-to-face. “My mistress was well aware of the situation. It made her victory all the sweeter. Not only had she beaten La Samsona, but also Alessio’s high and mighty ideals. It took her several months, but little by little she broke him down. She made him burn with passion for her and only her. He forgot the promises to his father, the melding of the two families. How completely that panting dolt threw his reputation aside and became her slave.”
    “And once Zulietta had collected her victory spoils, what then?” Messer Grande asked with cool composure. “How did she expect her lover to react when