Prologue Florence, 1290 The poet dropped the note to the floor with a shaking hand. He sat for several moments, motionless as a statue. Then, with a great clenching of teeth, he stood to his feet and swept agitatedly through the house, ignoring tables and fragile items, disdaining the other inhabitants of his home. There was only one person whom he wished to see. He strode quickly through the city streets, almost breaking into a run on his way to the river. He stood at the end of the bridge, their bridge, his moist eyes eagerly scanning the adjacent riverbank for the barest glimpse of his beloved. She was nowhere to be found. She would never return. His beloved Beatrice was gone. Quote “And of that second kingdom will I sing Wherein the human spirit doth purge itself, And to ascend to heaven becometh worthy.” -Dante Alighieri, Purgatorio, Canto I.004-006. Chapter 1 Professor Gabriel Emerson was sitting in bed, naked, reading La Nazione, the Florentine newspaper. He’d awoken early in the Palazzo Vecchio penthouse of the Gallery Hotel Art and ordered room service, but he couldn’t resist returning to bed to watch the young woman sleep. She was on her side facing him, breathing softly, a