.......Meanwhile in north of the Peninsula, not far from the lake of Iseo......

Donna Elena The housemaid bops a quick curtseyYour father wishes to speak to you in his Study.

Elena puts down the book she had been reading, Poems on Particular Occasions (by Elisabeth Carter). Quickly brushing the Amaretti crumbs of her dress she makes her way the Contes Study. She gently knocks on the door and enters.

Her Father, the Conte Filippe looks up from the letter he has been reading.

Siediti, Cara, I have some very sad news to impart

Elena notices the letter he is holding, and her fathers sad expression.

What is it, Papa? What has happened?

I have just received a letter from the Principato di Melioria. It concerns the Principe. You remember that the Principe had travelled to the new world, with the intention of introducing the Grape Vine to that country. Apparently the climate there is very favourable.

Yes Papa?

It would seem that their settlement was attacked by the native population and burnt to the ground. Many corpses were found, but burnt beyond recognition. They cannot be sure, but it is believed that the Principe may have been amongst the dead.

Elena gets up and goes to the window, gazing out on the roses and the lawn.

This is terrible!

I thought you should know, Elena.

Yes, off course, thank you for telling me. I shall write to his family immediately. I am so sorry papa, he was a most charming and kind man, and I know he was a very old friend of yours.

Yes he was, a very dear old friend

Is there anything I can do for you Papa?

No Cara, but thank you, just leave me to my thoughts and memories for a while, then send Zuanne to me, I shall have letters for him to take to Melioria.

Elena returns to the Salotto, her thoughts in turmoil. The Principe! Dead! It cannot be, and in a land so far away. She remembers his many kindnesses to herself and the Orphans she brought to Melioria when they sought refuge there after the Floods of Venezia...The Orphans!!!? What will happen to them, now that they are no longer under direct protection of the Principe?

Elena tries to calm herself and thinks of each one of them, Fiorino, Prospero, Rico, Luigi, Santi, Stella, Rosaria...some found employment of various sorts, some like Rosaria disappeared, Santi went to Sea. Many of the boys however worked and lived at the Villa. What will happen to them now?

Elena goes quickly to her Bureaux, kneels down, and feels her way along one of the panels, until she finds the tiny button. She presses it and a secret compartment jumps open. She removes a purse of coins and gently closes the compartment.

If her Father is sending Zuanne with letters of condolences to the Principes family, then she will give Zuanne a mission of her own. To find Fiorino and the other boys, and offer them safe passage through the country and back to the Veneto, should they wish it?

Elena sits down and begins to write.....