The Glimmering Sea

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Ca' d'Argento, with its gilding and carving and glorious art, faded to myth. Armida saw the mold and mildew beneath the facade. Vittore's concerns about Oriana's influence were irrelevant. Armida trusted no Terran and would make her choices based on serving her goal—uncovering information about the mermen and Paolo. Though the escape in music softened her turmoil, the singing lessons disguised her purpose. Here they knew her as Gemma and would have no further measure of her.

Oriana's girls and their admirers filled the salon. Light spiked off paste diamonds, and the air reeked with a cloying perfume masking the stench of the unwashed. The old men leered at the breasts of the women who had dusted them with gold powder to draw attention. The young men tucked their arms around their prey with the confidence money and power brought. Oriana stood with her arm linked loosely through the arm of a plump man with slick black hair. He had a prominent nose like on the Greek sculpture in Vittore's studio.

Silvered mirrors reflected these images in multitudes until Armida drew into herself to focus. The singing was what mattered in the moment. The sounds formed a protective shield; it repulsed all anguish. She wished she could hear her mother sing for the first time again. Never had anything been as bright and ethereal in her life, before or since.

Her singing attracted the notice of nearly everyone in the room, most conspicuously Terisio, the young man she'd encountered at her first lesson. His gaze was intense; Armida did not cast her eyes in his direction after her first glance. When she'd noticed him earlier, his unwavering attention burned her skin.

Terisio shot to her side when she finished. "Gemma, it is as if the very angels have descended from the ceiling above and sung for us today."

"You are too generous. I am Oriana's student. I cannot yet read the music as I need to."

In the mirror behind Terisio, she watched the man with Oriana. As his predatory scowl slid around the room, Armida noted with surprise that his disregard of Oriana caused a painful neediness to cross her face. He caught Armida's eyes and, with an oily sneer, he crossed the salon toward her. As he closed in, Terisio hooked her arm in his and pulled Armida away to the windows overlooking the canal. He stroked her cheek but dropped his hand when she recoiled. Armida silently berated herself for the reaction.

"Does my touch so offend you? Can I be so odious?"

"It is merely that I am unaccustomed to touch. Do not be aggrieved."

"It is tragic you have little exposure to affection. Let me try again, but gently."

Terisio stepped toward her and raised his hand but was interrupted when Oriana swooped between them. She shot a look at Terisio that mystified Armida.

"Gemma, my dear, give me a minute with your admirer."

Armida drew a deep breath at the lucky escape. She watched the others in the drawing room as they paired off in the usual pattern. It was her cue to find Matteo in order to return to the security of Vittore's home.

She found him on the portico and, as he helped her onto the gondola, Oriana stopped them.

"I have an offer for you. I require but a small fee acting as your intermediary. Terisio would like private time with you. I will arrange for it discreetly every week following your singing lessons. Vittore does not need to hear of the arrangement."

✧✧✧

Armida tried to convince herself an hour or two would not be so awful. She tolerated the syrupy tones and the vapid conversation. Terisio had not ventured beyond petting her hand or face. It would not be long until he became impatient. Oriana had made his expectations clear. What Armida had to gain was worth the cost, just as Terisio had determined she was worth the price he paid. What little money she would receive each week, Armida would give to Rinaldo to pay sources who traded in the bits and bobs of others' misery.