‘You too, mia principessa.’
‘Don’t fall asleep!’
‘I won’t,’ Marco laughed.
He listened to the familiar sounds as Daniela got ready to leave, scrambling to find her shoes and her coat as Rosina gently chided her along. Then the front door slammed and everything went quiet, the silence ringing throughout the apartment. Marco sat for a few moments longer then, with a tangle of thoughts running through his mind, he headed for the shower.
‘Olivia!’
Olivia Booth swept into the grand lobby of the hotel in a cloud of Chanel No. 5, dressed head to toe in a cream suit, a set of diamond studs glistening in her ears and a vintage Tiffany & Co. watch on her wrist.
‘Gina, darling I’m delighted to see you. My goodness, you get more beautiful every day!’ she gushed. Olivia’s voice retained a hint of the Yorkshire village where she’d been born, the daughter of a miner. To anyone passing she looked like a wealthy, attractive woman of middle age, and the only thing that hinted at a different backstory was a stick, one with an engraved silver swallow handle, which she held discreetly to her side as the porter took her mountain of luggage through the lobby on a trolley.
‘You look wonderful too, blooming!’ Gina smiled, hugging Olivia tightly.
‘I feel wonderful, darling, it is sooo good to be back in Venice, I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed the old place.’
‘Where is Max?’ Gina asked.
‘He’s just paying the water taxi … Ah, here he is now.’
Max Hillman-Clark was a Queen’s Counsel in London, one of the country’s top barristers, but outside his day job he was also a renowned collector and expert in Venetian art. As if that wasn’t enough, he was the son of a baronet and came from one of the wealthiest families in England.
‘I can’t wait to see the suite, darling, is it just as I remember it?’ Olivia enquired, her eyes dancing with excitement.
‘We haven’t changed a thing,’ Gina reassured her. ‘Well, not so as you would notice anyway,’ Gina winked.
‘I don’t doubt that you have had it completely refurbished, repainted and refurnished, just so it can look exactly as it always has done,’ Olivia said.
‘You know us so well!’
‘Darling, it is the only place in Venice that Max and I would choose to get married, isn’t it?’
Max leaned in and gave Gina a warm embrace. ‘Are there any other hotels in Venice?’ he teased.
‘I promise you both, everything is just as you wanted it. You really are my favourite guests, and possibly my favourite people on the planet. I’m organizing everything myself, and you are going to have a day that you will never forget – one that Venice won’t forget, in fact.’
Gina made a discreet nod towards one of the concierges standing close by, who hurried over. Gina took two room keys from him. ‘Carlo will be looking after you today, and he is under strict instructions to give you anything you need.’
Max kissed her cheek, ‘Gina, where would we be without you?’
‘You’re our guardian angel, Gina,’ Olivia agreed.
‘Carlo is going to take you up to your suite now. We can catch up on all of your news when you’ve settled in.’
‘Oh I insist on that!’ Olivia said, ‘I want to hear all about that singer, Lucia de Santis. I’ve heard she’s quite the diva!’
You have no idea …
As Gina watched Olivia and Max head towards the opulent old-fashioned lift, she felt an inner warmth. She had first met Olivia five years previously, when she was still quite new to the hotel herself, and Olivia’s circumstances had been very different indeed.
Olivia really did deserve the very best that the White Palace could offer, and Gina was going to make sure she got it.
After a busy afternoon, Gina looked at her watch and realized she was running late for the most important date in the Venetian calendar. She had been so busy she hadn’t even had time for her usual one hundred laps in the White Palace pool, which helped her to de-stress and clear her mind of her intense schedule. Now she had to rush; she needed to get back to her apartment and prepare for Carnevale.
She lived in a beautiful old building in the Dorsoduro area of Venice, only a short boat ride away from the hotel, but a world away in terms of style and attitude. Where the White Palace was grand and prestigious, Dorsoduro was the university district. It had a laid-back, unpretentious feel, and was famed for its museums and galleries.
Gina’s apartment was plain and tidy; she worked such long hours that she rarely spent any time there. The flat was rented, and she shared the two-bedroomed place with her colleague, Vittoria, who was the head receptionist at the hotel.
Outside of work, Vittoria was brash, funny and outrageous, and she never failed to make Gina laugh, always able to draw out the fun side from her natural coolness. Though Gina could easily have afforded her own apartment, something grander in a more exclusive area, she adored living with Vittoria. Gina had made few friends in Venice, and rarely socialized with her colleagues, but she enjoyed Vittoria’s company, and the two of them had lived together for the past few years. Every week Vittoria tried to set Gina up with a different man, and Gina was always trying to get out of Vittoria’s matchmaking, insisting that she was married to her job and there was no time for love.
‘How was La Leonessa’s arrival?’ Vittoria asked with an expectant grin, as Gina walked into their apartment.
Gina raised an eyebrow. ‘As you’d expect, her arrival was a circus,’ she said, making Vittoria laugh wickedly. In truth, Gina didn’t want to talk about Lucia de Santis; she was hoping to avoid her as much as possible, and had designated Lucia her own personal attendant, one who would report directly to Gina. But given Lucia’s reputation as a demanding diva, it seemed unlikely her visit would pass without Gina being called upon to fulfil some outrageous demand herself.
‘What time is Leo picking us up?’ Vittoria asked.
‘He’ll meet us at the jetty in an hour.’
Leo was the hotel’s head boatman, and tonight he would take a group of White Palace guests out along the Grand Canal to Piazza San Marco, which was at the heart of the Carnival festivities. Gina, Vittoria, and a dozen other staff members would accompany the guests, stay with them if required, and escort them home shortly after midnight. The more adventurous could wander at liberty, free to get lost in the labyrinthine streets around the piazza and experience the thrill of the crowd. Although it was one of the busiest times of the year for Gina, she got to have some fun too.
‘How many guests are we expecting?’ Vittoria asked.
‘Thirty.’ Gina had recognized many of the names on the list she’d received earlier that day, repeat customers who she’d come to know well over the years. Olivia and Max would be there, and the Martins from Paris, who stayed whenever they were in the city, while Philippa Russo, of the famous wine dynasty, was bringing her teenage daughter, Carina, to experience her first Carnival. For the Japanese Abe family, it was their first visit to Italy, but they’d stayed many times at White Palaces across the world, and Gina had liaised with her counterparts overseas to learn their preferences and ensure their vacation went without a hitch.
‘The boat will be almost full,’ Vittoria commented.
‘And the hotel almost empty,’ Gina laughed.
‘You know that Leo has a crush on you, don’t you? Why won’t you let me set you up with him?’ Vittoria pouted.
‘Not this again!’ Gina threw a sofa cushion at her friend and rolled her eyes. ‘No boyfriends. I’m married to the White Palace, remember! Come on,’ Gina changed the subject. ‘Let’s go get ready.’
Gina headed through to her bedroom, which contained little beyond a heavy wooden sleigh bed, a wardrobe and desk. She liked to travel lightly through life, and didn’t feel the need to acquire possessions for the sake of it. When she’d arrived in Venice, she’d only brought one small bag – there’d been no trinkets or mementos from home. Well, apart from one …
Gina showered quickly, before blow-drying her short, honey-blonde bob, which she tied back and covered with an enormous white Marie Antoinette-style wig, which was at least six inches high and which Vittoria had to help her pin in place. Then it was time for the rest of the costume, and Gina gently lifted it down from where it was hanging on the back of her door, still unable to believe her good fortune; that she got to wear an incredible dress and take part in the Carnevale di Venezia.
She slipped it on, taking in her appearance in the mirror. She had to admit she looked spectacular. Her outfit consisted of a full gown of white and gold, handcrafted from silk and trimmed with Burano lace. The skirt was wide, with layers of petticoats, while the brocade bodice pulled her waist in and thrust her breasts upwards, a jewelled brooch nestling at her cleavage.
She was almost ready, just the last few items. Bustling across her room, the dress swishing pleasingly as she walked, she picked up the bracelet laid out on her dressing table. Her father had passed it down to Gina, telling her it had been her grandmother’s, and to take good care of it. The bracelet was made of Murano glass, a dozen circular beads in myriad shades of blue, like the Venice Lagoon, strung together on a silver chain. It was unlikely to be worth very much, but to Gina it was priceless. It was one of the few tangible memories of her father and grandmother – she didn’t even have so much as a photograph …
‘Are you ready, Gina? The boat will be here soon.’ Vittoria’s voice interrupted her thoughts as she called through the door.
‘Just a moment …’
It was time for the final – and most important – part of her costume. Her mask. She lifted it from the box on her dressing table, where it lay nestled inside layers of tissue paper that crinkled satisfyingly as she lifted it out, holding it up admiringly. The volto mask was a beautiful, papier-mâché creation designed to cover the whole face, exquisitely decorated with an intricate gold design that had been traditionally hand-painted. A length of gold ribbon trailed from either side. Gina reverentially placed it over her face, tying the ribbon behind her head to make it secure.
As soon as it was in place, Gina felt different. Far from hiding behind the mask, Gina felt the opposite – an unexpected sense of freedom. Ordinarily, she worked hard to hide her true self from the world, to conceal the secrets she carried with her. Behind the mask, she was safe to be herself; she felt powerful and untouchable.
