“I came here to see Marcello, but it seems he’s not around,” Giuditta remarked, steering the conversation elsewhere.

“Yes,” Azzurra replied coolly, “he went hunting. The workload had been weighing on him, so I told him to get away for a few days clear his head.”

She didn’t need to guess at Giuditta’s feelings for Marcello it was written across her face in bold letters. And Azzurra, simmering with her own resentment toward Marcello, had no qualms about quietly poisoning ...