Claire's Last Secret Page 21

  Staring at him in disbelief, I felt my world had shifted yet again. I had just been reconciled to put the past behind me and give up forever on the notion that Allegra had survived. But now I had proof from the one other living person who bore witness to Byron’s last days.

  ‘I cannot absolve your sins so easily, my old friend, but if you tell me all that you know, I will at least try not to condemn you,’ I said as I cautiously took his hand. ‘Leave nothing out.’

  ‘I shall not,’ he vowed. As our fingers intertwined, we ambled out of the garden in silent agreement and up the stairs into the light shining out from the Pitti Palace. I was about to hear the words that I had longed for most of my life.

  I would finally know the truth about Allegra.