Chapter 16: Amid the Colosseum's Ruins

⁠​​​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌‌‌‌​​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​⁠One of the first things Maximilian Morrel did, after he and his wife were comfortably installed at the Hotel de France in Rome, was to make a formal call at the Palazzo Massetti and present his letters of introduction to the aged Count, Giovanni's father.

The old nobleman, who was at least seventy and very patriarchal in appearance because of his flowing white locks and long snowy beard, received t