The Rose of Florence by Angela M Sims

Author:Angela M Sims
Format: epub

In a large heavy pan, gently heat the oil, garlic and chilli pepper for about 5 minutes. Do not allow to boil or brown. Add the spinach and stir the oil mixture through the leaves at it wilts. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper and serve immediately.

CHAPTER 15

Friday after Easter

There had been no rain to clean the streets of Florence since that fateful Sunday, and the evidence of the terrible bloodshed remained throughout the city. People walked around the blood stains on the cobbles and avoided the corpses of those who had died in the fray but had no family to claim them. Like most Italian cities, Florence had a confraternity of men who would collect and bury the indigent dead outside the city walls, but it had been unsafe for even this work to be carried out. Their work would need to resume as a matter of urgency. It had been several days since these men had died and with temperatures rising in the late spring, the stench would soon be overpowering. The plague which had claimed so many lives across Europe was still very much in the minds of the people, so any death and decay was to be feared and dealt with cleanly and swiftly.

Gianetta, who normally relished her morning walk through the streets, struggled to complete her errands. Feeling the effects of her pregnancy and the demands of the child growing inside her, she had become sensitive to strong smells, and there were plenty of unpleasant sights and smells that morning. She fought her nausea, until she had to duck down a small alleyway, where she vomited up the meagre breakfast that she had forced herself to eat. Still feeling a little unsteady, she continued her shopping trip. She had collected vegetables and cheeses from the market, and now had one more stop to make. The macelleria near Santa Croce church sold the finest nduja sausages in Florence, and Eleonora would not settle for anything less. It was a little way out of her usual route, but Gianetta felt that the walk would do her good. This walk took her past the Bargello, the seat of the city’s highest magistrate, who ensured that justice was carried out according to local laws.

As she approached the building, Gianetta began to feel some unease. Crowds had gathered around the building to gawp at the corpses of those who had taken part in the atrocities of just a few days before. They still swung from the high windows, beginning to rot now in the sunshine. Their bloated faces and swollen tongues had taken on a greenish hue. Some had already lost their eyes to passing birds. Their clothing was stained, either with blood from their fighting, or from the moment they realised their fate and soiled themselves. Unlike many of the people of Florence, Gianetta had no wish to linger in the area and quickened her step. She manoeuvred around a group of women, who had paused their daily tasks to gossip and pass judgement on the culprits.

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