Sir Henry and Lady Isabella had been as good as their word and she had travelled with the family to Italy each summer to stay at Lady Isabella’s father’s country estate on the eastern shore of Lake Garda. The Morosini family also had magnificent townhouses in Florence and Rome, but Lady Isabella preferred the beauty and tranquillity of the Garda estate where the children could run wild in a way they were never allowed to do in England, and where each day she seemed to increase in strength and vitality. On Constance’s first trip, the vibrant colours of Italy had dazzled her: the azure sky, cobalt sea, golden sunshine day after magical day, silver olive trees and green vines, and white marble. The villa itself was a splendid sixteenth-century fairytale castle of a place, built in pinkish terracotta bricks with turrets and spires which perfectly complemented the richness of its interior decoration. The villa was shaded by huge chestnut trees, and a terrace which ran the length of the three-storey building overlooked the lake and a shallow harbour for fishing boats.
