Bloom Where You are Planted – Lydia Blooms in Venice by Diana Birchall

From author’s collection

August was hot in Venice, as might have been expected, and the Darcy party sat outside in the garden, fanning themselves and taking some comfort from the shade offered by the olive and persimmon trees. There was no coolness to be derived from the canal below the terraces of the Palazzo Mocenigo, as no breeze stirred, that might dispel the odours of the warm water. The servants diligently brought drinks of lemon, and bowls of fruit and almond cakes were laid on the pretty...