"R. A. MacAvoy - Damiano" - читать интересную книгу автора (MacAvoy R A)

sometimes, if a chaperon was near and her brother
Paolo was not, she would permit Damiano to swing
himself up by the slats of the balcony and disturb her
sewing further.
In his own mind, Damiano called Carla his Beatrice,
and if he was not being very original, it was at least
better to liken her to Dante's example of purity rather
than to Laura, as did other young men of the town, for
Petrarch's Laura had been a married woman and had
died of the plague, besides.
Now Damiano passed before the shuttered Denezzi
house front and he felt her absence like cold wind
against the face. "Where are you, my Beatrice?" he
whispered. But the bare, white house front had no
voiceтАФnot even for him.

The town hall had no stable under it, and it was
only two stories high. It was not a grand building,
being only white stucco: nowhere near as imposing a
structure as the towers of Delstrego. It had not been in
the interest of the council to enlarge it, or even to seal
the infected-looking brown cracks that ran through the
wall by the door. Except for the weekly gatherings of
the town fathers, discussing such issues as the distance
of the shambles from the well and passing judgment
on sellers of short-weight bread loavesтАФsuch were
commonly dragged on a transom three times around
the market, the offending loaf hanging around their
necksтАФthe town hall had been occupied by one or
another of Savoy's captains, with the half-dozen men
necessary to keep Partestrada safe and in line.
Damiano knew what Savoy's soldiers had been
like: brutishly cruel or crudely kind as the moment
would have it, but always cowed before wealth and
authority. No doubt these would be the same. It was
only necessary for a man to feel his own power...
His confidence in his task grew as he approached
the open door of the hall, which was guarded by a
single sentry. His nod was a gesture carefully tailored
.to illustrate he was a man of means and family, and a
philosopher besides. The soldier's response, equally
well thought-out, was intended to illustrate that he had
both a sword and a spear. Damiano stopped in front of
him.
"I am told that General Pardo wants to see me," he
began, humbly enough.
"Who are you, that the general should want to see
you," was the cold reply.
A bit of his natural dignity returned to Damiano.
"I am Delstrego."