Free The Devil in Music by Kate Ross

Or he tramped over
the mountains into Switzerland, as the smugglers do. Oh yes, for an
unscrupulous or desperate man, there are many ways out of Austrian
Italy.

    Lucia
told Raversi about Orfeo's missing clothes and pistol. Raversi was
more confident than ever that Orfeo was a Carbonaro. "This
confirms me in what I've proposed to Comandante Von Krauss. You know
that Piedmont, right on our border, is in the throes of a revolt, but
you may not have heard yet that the King has abdicated, and the
Regent, Carlo Alberto, has been forced to proclaim a constitution.
The Piedmontese rebels' success has emboldened our own Carbonari. If
it's known that Marchese Malvezzi has been assassinated, and his
killer has escaped, the murder will be hailed as a signal for
radicals all around the lake perhaps all over Lombardy to rise in
revolt. Lo-dovico was so closely identified with our Austrian rulers
that his murder will be seen as a blow directly against the
government."

    "What
are you saying, Signer Conte?" Donati stammered. "You
want us to keep the murder a secret?"

    "Not
for long, Maestro," Raversi assured him. "Just until the
political situation calms down or until Orfeo is found and can be
made an example of. It's an extreme measure, and Comandante Von
Krauss was sceptical about it at first. But in the end he couldn't
take the responsibility for inciting an insurrection."

    "But
how can you hide the marchese's death from his family, his servants,
his friends?"

    "My
dear Maestro, no one said anything about hiding his death. Dr.
Curioni has agreed to certify that he died of heart failure. I
regret carrying the deception so far, but I have no choice. Curioni
was persuaded of the urgency of the need."

    Donati
had no doubt that an Austrian commander and a contingent of soldiers
could persuade Curioni of almost anything. "But Signer Conte,
how can you search for Orfeo without revealing that he's suspected of
killing the marchese?"

    "A
man can be sought without anyone's knowing what he's wanted for. Von
Krauss has agreed he won't even tell the soldiers hunting for him why
they're to find him. They may have ideas so may the people they
question. But they won't know for certain, and in the inevitable
flood of rumours, murder will be only one possibility."

    Donati
shook his head. Raversi might prevent an insurrection, but he would
never find Orfeo at that rate. He himself had been a city dweller
all his life, but even he knew that the peasants living around the
lake profoundly distrusted Austrian soldiers and cooperated with them
as little as possible. They had long protected smugglers against
them, and they would do as much for Orfeo, if they did not know he
was suspected of a crime as serious as murder. In his zeal against
the Carbonari, Raversi seemed to have forgotten what he owed to his
friend, whose murderer might well go unpunished.

    "Now
then," Raversi proceeded, "here's what we've decided to do.
Our good Don Cristoforo will break the news of Lodovico's death in
the village. Signor Ruga will send out gendarmes to assist in the
search for Orfeo and to look for Tonio. I've suggested they make
enquiries for Tonio at the Nightingale. It's the only inn in
Solaggio he's quite likely to have stayed there last night."

    "Signor
Conte," remonstrated Don Cristoforo, the priest, "surely
you can't mean to conceal the true manner of Marchese Malvezzi's
death from his family."

    "I'm
afraid I must, Your Reverence. Lodovico's family pose the greatest
danger of all. If they find out he's been murdered, they'll make a
public outcry and demand drastic action by the government. Secrecy
will become impossible."

    The
others had no choice but to fall in with Raversi's scheme, and
promise to keep dark that Lodovico had met his death by foul play.
Raversi said he would write to Marchese Rinaldo in Milan, telling him
only that his father had died unexpectedly, and that he, Raversi,
awaited Rinaldo's instructions about property matters and