CHAPTER 94

CHAPTER 94

— DEATH IN VENICE IS NOT an inappropriate reading for the moment? Nicole asked her mother as she closed the book, placing it on a table.

— Despite the title, it is a very interesting work, my daughter.

— Perhaps it is, but with this wonderful view — he said as he looked out of the hotel window at the entrance to Venice's grand canal — it doesn't seem like the most opportune moment.

Victoria smiled.

— At my age, Nick, a good book is a great adventure in itself — said the woman, seeing in the girl's restlessness a thirst for adventure.

— I understand — Nicole said, looking at Victoria in the wheelchair and showing a certain amount of regret for her remark.

— Do not be sad, my daughter! Rest assured that I already had a lot of fun and, at your age, I had already traveled the world with your grandfather. For more than twenty years I have known the most beautiful and exotic cities in the world. When he wasn't working, our hobby was traveling incognito through the countryside where we were. The two of us left, like tourists, visiting at length from large capitals to the smallest and most distant villages.

— That must have been wonderful! — Exclaimed the young woman.

— And was! That way I got to know exotic countries like Brazil, one of the most beautiful in the world, full of warm sand beaches and transparent waters and very welcoming people. Nor can I forget the long rides on horseback in Argentina; the incomparable flavors of the cuisine in Thailand or even the afternoon fishing trips in New Zealand.

— That's how he met Dad.

— His father was a special case, he was a friend of his grandfather, at first he didn't take it very well.

— So you ran away.

She nodded.

— That's when the accident happened, by a miracle, we both got out alive.

Nicole's eyes sparkled as she listened to her mother's reports. Until they were interrupted by Antoine, who suddenly entered the room.

— Victoria, the gondola driver is already downstairs.

— Great, Antoine, did you explain to him the script to do?

— Yes, it is already properly instructed.

— Did you hire a gondola? — Are we going out? — Nicole asked.

— We do not! I have to finish my book — the woman said, winking at the butler.