Late May 1634
Elizabeth avoided Giacomo after that. She knew that people noticed, but no one seemed to be saying anything about it, so she didn't either.
Then she heard the news. It took her a day or so to muster the courage to see Giacomo again, but on Friday afternoon, she went to his classroom after the school day was over. He was packing his document case. He stood and they looked at each other.
"So, when were you going to tell me?" Elizabeth asked.
Giacomo shrugged. "Tomorrow, I thought."
She walked over and sat down in one of the student desks.
"Master of the Royal Academy of Music, huh? That sounds like a great gig." She tried to keep her voice light.
"I think it will be," he responded.
There was another period of long silence.
"So when will you leave?" she finally said
"Around June first." Giacomo looked at his hands. "I have to make some arrangements, and pack up what I will take and give away what I won't."
More silence.
Finally, she stood up and said, "Good luck."
"Thanks."
Elizabeth stepped over and held out her hand, but before Giacomo could reach to take it, she suddenly threw her arms around him and kissed him fiercely.
After a moment, Elizabeth broke the embrace and pushed back. She looked down at the floor, then looked up with a wry grin on her face.
"It would never work between us while I am married, and I won't leave Fred."
She struggled to keep her voice calm.
"You are Euterpe," Giacomo said after a moment. "You are my muse. I am my best because of you."
Elizabeth shrugged.
"Thank you for that compliment," she replied. "But I think you will have a new muse now. I think Princess Kristina will be your muse from now on, one way or another."
Giacomo shook his head.
Elizabeth stepped closer, rested a hand on his cheek, and whispered as the tears began to trickle from the corners of her eyes, "God go with you, Jude. Be well, be happy, be magnificent. And think about me from time to time, if you can stand it."
She left the room then, expecting to never see him again.
March 1635
Giacomo gave a very Latin shrug. "I needed to come confer with Master Wendell and Master Atwood about some of the Grantville Music Trust matters, and I wanted to read through the church music libraries again and see what I can use." Another moment of silence, then, "And I miss the children. " He swallowed.". and I miss you."
To see him again, to hear him say that, tore at Elizabeth's heart. Oh, how she wanted to embrace him. But she couldn't. He started to shift position, and she held up a hand. He froze.
"Nothing has changed, Giacomo. The answer to your question is still 'No.' Understand?"
Carissimi looked down, and nodded.
Despite the pain, it was still good to see him. He still looked like Doug Drake, and he was still the same gentle man he had always been.
Elizabeth gave a small smile, and said, "The kids miss you, too. You're welcome to stay for dinner." He looked up in surprise. She held her hand up again. "But that's all, and you leave before they go to bed."
He nodded again, this time with a little lighter expression.
"Come on, then. You know where the piano is."
Giacomo headed for the music room. Elizabeth returned to the kitchen to finish the carrots. She found herself humming along with the music that poured from the piano. She couldn't even be mad at herself for her spirits being lighter than they had been in months.
Dinner was simple; a piece of smoked ham, carrots and some green beans that someone had canned and given her last year. But the meal was almost festive, as Daniel and Leah competed for Giacomo's attention. Elizabeth found herself smiling again as she watched them. They really did like the Italian master, and he obviously liked them as well.
Once the kids were through pushing green beans around on their plates, she sent them back to the music room to finish their homework. Giacomo drifted along behind them, and the piano began singing again while she cleared away the dishes to the kitchen.
Just as the last of the dishes were placed on the counter, the doorbell rang again. Wondering who it could be at this hour of the night, Elizabeth headed for the door. Her heart sank when it opened to reveal Preston Richards and Harley Thomas framed in the doorway, both in uniform.
"Press? Harley?"
"Can we come in?"
A chill settled in her soul.
"Sure. We're back in the music room."
They followed her. Daniel and Leah, both sprawled on the floor, looked up from doing their homework. Giacomo was seated at the piano, but he stilled his hands as soon as he saw who was with her.
"You know Signor Carissimi. He. "
". wrote the song about Hans Richter's death." Press reached out his hand. "I haven't had the pleasure, before. Pleased to meet you. Um. " He looked at the children.
"Whatever it is," Elizabeth said through the gathering cold shroud, "they'll need to know. Bad or the worst?"
"The worst," Press admitted. "They're bringing him back."
She sat down on the end of the piano bench. "What goes around, comes around, I guess." She clasped her hands together so tightly that her knuckles were white. "Last week. Last week I was actually feeling-sort of good, maybe even a little bit smug-that Fred was over there in Ohrdruf. Safely away from what happened at the hospital and the synagogue. As safe as a man could ever be, in his line of work."
She gestured vaguely with her hand. "I'll need to call Jenny Maddox at the funeral home, I guess. To be expecting him. I don't know who else, really, since Reverend Wiley is dead."
Elizabeth felt Carissimi stand up behind her. "Orval McIntire," he said. "The man who preached the state funeral. Admirable eulogies-the ones he delivered for the mayor and your minister. Stay with Daniel and Leah. I will call them both. That much of the burden, Elizabeth, I can take from your shoulders."
Both kids looked scared, and Leah was crying. Elizabeth could hear Giacomo making the first phone call. She opened her arms, and the kids came to her, huddling together within the circle of her embrace. She felt the tears starting in her own eyes as she looked at the two men who had brought the bad news, and who obviously wished they hadn't had to.
"What happened?"
Press shrugged. "We haven't received a full report yet, but what we know at this point is he fell off a roof and broke his neck."
"What was he doing up on a roof?" Elizabeth demanded.
Press shrugged again. "From what we can tell, he was doing some kind of protective over-watch on people that were being persecuted by some of the citizens of Ohrdruf. He seemed to have slipped and lost his grip, and. " Press stopped for a moment. There really wasn't anything else he could add to that. Elizabeth's stomach churned as she thought of that fall. "I'll let you know as soon as we know more," Press finally finished.
"Please." She bent her head over her children, all she had left of Fred, and let her tears mingle with theirs.
The doorbell rang again, and Harley answered it. That was the beginning of neighbors, friends, and family coming to see if they could help.
The next days passed in a blur. It took longer to schedule the funeral than normal, because they had to wait for Fred's body to arrive from Ohrdruf. There was a constant flow of family and friends. She and the kids were never left alone. In her lucid moments, she understood that and was thankful for it. And the food kept coming. Everyone brought something: ham, roast beef, potatoes, vegetables, breads; even desserts, although the cost of sugar these days made those really extravagant.