The Glassblower of Murano - Marina Fiorato [65]
Leonora was encouraged by his use of the word `we' while his reference to detection warmed her with the thought of Alessandro.
`It's possible that Corrado went abroad. But highly unlikely. It's true that French mirror-making took an enormous leap forward in the late seventeenth century, evidenced by the Palais de Versailles, which became the flagship for the enlightened century. Some say they had foreign intelligence, others say that they arrived at these methods through convergent evolution.'
`Convergent evolution?' queried Leonora.
The Professor explained. `In Africa, from the primeval mulch of single-celled soup, there evolved an enormous mastodon with large ears which we now call the African elephant. In India, there evolved, by the same method, a creature the same in all respects save the size of its ears. Both creatures evolved independently, separated by seas and landmasses, by tectonics, to arrive at the same place. Neither `copied' the other. They merely share a distant ancestor, as all glassware shares its mother; sand.They underwent convergent evolution.'
Leonora pressed the point. `Professore, why would you say that it was highly unlikely that Corradino went to France?'
'Because The Ten, the ruling body of the Consiglio Maggiore, took great exception to the defection of their artisans. They threatened their families with death if craftsmen took their secrets to foreign powers. Murano itself was something of a prison, although perhaps less so for a man like Corrado, who was possessed of a prodigious talent and was given dispensation to visit the city for his work.'
Leonora broke in with the question that seemed obvious to her. `But Professore, why would The Ten hold any threat for Corradino, if all his family were dead?'
`Because, my dear young lady, not all his family were dead. I have but a rudimentary grasp of the Biological Sciences but I do know that, if they were all dead, there would be no descendants such as yourself, my dear. Corradino had a daughter.!
Leonora pressed her face into the towel, not caring how many grubby student hands had dried there before. She felt a fool - running out of the Professore's room like that, and skidding into the nearest bathroom to heave into the nearest toilet bowl. Why was this revelation such a shock to her? If she had even thought it through logically, there must have been someone else, some lineage, or else how was she here? How did she have the glass heart that Corradino passed down all the way to her? She held the heart for courage as she walked shakily back down the hall and timidly re-entered the Professore's room. Padovani courteously stood, with concern in his eyes. She sat again and apologized.
`Forgive me, I've been ... unwell ... for a couple of days now.
The Professore nodded and took up his story. 'Corrado's daughter was also called Leonora. She was the product of an illegitimate union between Corrado and a noblewoman, Angelina del Vescovi, who died in childbirth. Leonora was taken in to the Pieta orphanage and trained in music. She was given the name of Marlin, but surnames were never used at the orphanage. The girls in the Pieta were always known by the instrument they played - `cello, violino - to maintain the anonymity of the bastard children of some very highly born families. She was always Leonora della viola, and was a very accomplished player. None would have known of her connection to Corradino, or even of her existence unless he himself told of it. Even The Ten had to respect the secrets of the Pieta, as the foundation had the weight of the church and its laws of sanctuary behind it. After Corradino's death Leonora was found by a distant cousin - a Milanese called Lorenzo Visconti-Manin - who was attempting to trace the disparate fragments