Description
Library of the World’s Best Mystery and Detective Stories, Volume 5
Andrea Dolphin
A Venetian novella
Paul Heyse In the alley of Venice, bearing the friendly name of "Bella Cortesia", stood around the middle of the last century, a simple, one-story bourgeois house, whose low portal, framed by two winding wooden columns and baroque cornice, enthroned a Madonna picture in the niche and an eternal little lamp shimmered modestly behind red glass. When you entered the lower hall, you were standing at the foot of a broad, steep staircase that led up to the upper rooms without winding. Here, too, a lamp burned day and night, hanging from the ceiling on bare chains, as only daylight entered the interior once the front door was opened. But despite this eternal twilight, the stairs were the favorite stay of Mrs. Giovanna Danieli, the owner of the house. who since the death of her husband, with her only daughter, Marietta, lived in the inherited little house and leased some superfluous rooms to quiet people. She claimed that the tears she cried for her dear husband had weakened her eyes too much to tolerate sunlight. The neighbors, however, told her that only from morning to evening on the upper landing did she exercise her character, in order to tie up with anyone who went in and out and not to let him pass, rather than pay duty to her curiosity and conversation. By the time we met her, that reason could hardly move her to prefer the hard seat on the step to a comfortable chair. It was in August of 1762. For half a year, the rooms she had rented were empty, and she did not interact with her neighbors. It was already on the night, and a visit at this time was quite unusual. Nevertheless, the little woman sat persistently at her post and looked thoughtfully into the empty hallway. She had sent her child to bed and put a few pumpkins next to her to cook before going to bed. But a
Product ID: 9781776754601
Sku: 9781776754601
