Page 13 of Portrait of an Unknown Woman

“I wonder why.” Chiara used her phone to lower the volume. “Going somewhere?”

“Sorry?”

“You’re still wearing your overcoat.”

“I’m a little chilled, that’s all.” He wandered over to the gleamingstainless-steel Vulcan oven and peered through the window. Inside was the orange casserole dish that Chiara used for preparing osso buco. “What have I done to deserve this?”

“I can think of one or two things. Or three,” she added.

“How long until it’s ready?”

“It needs another thirty minutes.” She poured two glasses of the Brunello. “Leaving you just enough time to tell me about your conversation with Julian.”

“We’ll talk after dinner, if you don’t mind.”

“Is there a problem?”

He turned abruptly. “Why do you ask?”

“There usually is one where Julian is concerned.” Chiara regarded him carefully for a moment. “And you seem upset about something.”

He decided, with no small amount of guilt, that the wisest course of action was to blame his edgy mood on Raphael. “Your son failed to notice my return home because he was hypnotized by that computer game of his.”

“I gave him permission.”

“Why?”

“Because it took him all of five minutes to finish his math homework. His teachers think he’s gifted. They want him to begin working with a specialist.”

“He certainly didn’t get it from me.”

“Nor from me.” Chiara offered him a glass of the wine. “There’s a package in your studio. It looks as though it might be from your girlfriend Anna Rolfe.” She smiled coolly. “Listen to a bit of music and relax. You’ll feel better.”

“I feel just fine.”

Gabriel accepted the wine with his left hand and withdrew to the master bathroom suite, where he subjected the injured extremity to a thorough examination by the light of Chiara’s vanity. The sharp pain produced by a gentle probe indicated at least a hairline fractureto the fifth metacarpal. Significant swelling was plainly evident, but as yet there was no visible bruising. At a bare minimum, immediate immobilization and icing were required. Given the circumstances, however, neither was possible, leaving Gabriel no treatment option other than alcohol and pain reliever.

He took down a bottle of ibuprofen from the medicine chest, shook several emerald capsules into his palm, and swallowed them with a mouthful of the Brunello. Repairing to his studio, he found the package. It had been sent to him by the publicity department of Deutsche Grammophon. Inside was a two-CD survey of Mozart’s five remarkable violin concertos, notable for the fact that the soloist had recorded the pieces with the same instrument upon which they had been composed.

Gabriel placed the first disc onto the tray of his CD player, tapped theplaybutton, and went to his easel. There he gazed upon a beautiful young woman draped nude across a brocade-covered couch, her melancholy gaze fixed upon the viewer—in this case, the artist who had painted her.Is there a problem?No, he thought as his hand throbbed with pain. No problem at all.

Gabrielmanaged to listen to the first two concertos before Chiara summoned him to the dining room. The meal arrayed upon the table looked as though it had been staged for a photo shoot byBon Appétit—the risotto, the platter of roasted vegetables glistening with olive oil, and, of course, the thick veal shanks drenched in a rich sauce of tomato and herbs and wine. As always, they were fork tender, allowing Gabriel to eat with one hand, keeping the other cradled protectively in his lap. The Brunello-and-Advil therapy had worked its magic; he was only vaguely aware of the pain. He was certain, however, it would return with a vengeance the instant the drug wore off, probably sometime around three in the morning.

Chiara’s eyes shone with candlelight as she guided the conversation. Diplomatically she raised the subject of Raphael’s mathematical prowess, which in turn led to a discussion of how his gifts might be put to good use. Irene, the family environmentalist, suggested that her brother consider pursuing a career as a climate scientist.

“Why?” probed Gabriel.

“Did you read the new UN report about global warming?”

“Didyou?”

“We talked about it at school. Signora Antonelli says Venice will soon be underwater because the Greenland ice sheet is melting. She says none of it would have happened if the Americans hadn’t withdrawn from the Paris Agreement.”

“That’s debatable.”

“She also says it’s too late to prevent a significant increase in global temperatures.”

“She’s right about that.”