The Venetian Widows Secret by Eleanor Littlejohn

Author:Eleanor Littlejohn [Littlejohn, Eleanor]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-02-16T00:00:00+00:00

Somewhat dazed by everything she had experienced, Giulia walked through the narrow, long street. From the canals, the smell of stagnant brackish water, garbage bobbing on the banks and dead fish that had died in the canals drifted through the alleyways above the harbor. Smells that Giulia knew well from Venice. In summer, the stench was often unbearable.

I don't want to live here, she thought and finally stopped in front of the large, red brick house with the imposing entrance. The portal was flanked by two pillars supporting a half-arch made of yellow sandstone. The name was again made of bricks and clearly inscribed on it: Petersen House. She looked around devoutly for a moment. That's right, she thought, in this town the big houses have their own names. Carl Hansen told me that there is a Heine House and the Görtz Palace, the Bark-Hof and the Kaufmannshaus, a Wiedemann House and the famous Petersen House. I'm going to see them all, she resolved, from now on no one will stop me if I want to go out. Determined, she climbed the two stone steps and opened the richly carved portal.

Overwhelmed by the size of the entrance hall, she stopped.

Large windows provided light. Faience, precious woods, stucco work and mosaics adorned the floor, walls and ceiling.

It was not as sumptuous and opulent as in Venetian palaces, it was rather the emphasized simplicity that impressed her. This must be the Hanseatic style that August had so often talked about, she thought, an interior couldn't be more valuable, but it doesn't stand out, it doesn't overwhelm the visitor.

A wide staircase led to the upper floors. Their walls were covered with portraits of old men in black suits or cloaks. Large ruffled collars were draped around their necks. I wonder if these are the ancestors, she thought, and decided to take a closer look at these gentlemen one day.

Maybe there are even similarities between them and my sons?

A man in uniform was sitting in a glazed wooden booth, looking at her with interest. As he didn't get up to greet her, she went over to his glass window, which he carefully opened.

"You wish, my lady?"

"I would like to speak to Mr. Georg Petersen."

"Are you registered?"

"No."

"Then I must see if the Lord has time for you." He beckoned to a messenger who was standing in the corner of the hall, apparently just waiting for an order.

"Hans, go upstairs and ask the gentleman if he has time for a lady who would like to speak to him."

Giulia nodded at him. "Tell him the lady is his daughter-in-law."

The doorman jumped up, startled. "Sorry, I couldn't have known that. I'm sure the gentleman has time for you. Hans, accompany the lady and register her with the gentleman."

They walked up the stairs. A red sisal runner covered the steps held up by brass rods. Silence reigned in the house.

But Giulia suspected that there was a lot going on behind the doors.

A door stood open. Men in dark suits

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