The Lost Dresses of Italy by M. A. Mclaughlin

Author:M. A. Mclaughlin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: CROOKED LANE BOOKS

CHAPTER 6

CHRISTINA

“‘I, if I perish, perish’ Esther spake

And bride of life or death she made her fair

In all the luster of her perfumed hair …”

(Monna Innominata, Sonnet VIII)

Milan, Italy

28 May 1865

I barely slept that night after reading the note about my father. By the time I finally drifted off into a fitful slumber, it was well into the small hours of the early morning, and I managed only a short nap, during which I experienced a bizarre nightmare in which I was trapped in a windowless room with Dante Gabriel while he attempted to paint a portrait of his lost wife, but her face kept changing into a skeletal image of a dead woman. He grew more and more agitated, flinging his brushes across the room as he cried out in anguish. Gasping, I struggled to awaken as I saw him slam the painting against the wall again and again … and with a start, I became fully conscious, realizing the sound was a firm tap on my door.

Sitting up quickly, I took a couple of calming breaths until I felt my heartbeat settle into a steady rhythm again.

Dear God, what caused such a hideous dream?

Then my eye fell on the note, which I had left on the nightstand:

Tuo padre mi ha tradito.

Your father betrayed me.

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