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prides herself on [[strikethrough]] the [[/strikethrough]] a knowledge of Florentine art. Has she not written a book on an unhappy incident in the life of Michelangelo!

This morning during the alarm we went down to our make-shift refuge facing the valley. It all seemed peaceful enough and the Professor in pyjamas sat twirling his thumbs with an air of content, when, someone espied not three hundred yards away, rows and rows of German military lorries hiding under the trees that line the Viale. We were in fact facing the possibility of these lorries being bombed by the ubiquitous English aviators. As it was, we could hear their machine-guns tapping away nearer and nearer every day. Natalie sends me reproachful and significant glances.

The day ended by a distracted Antonio telling us of the loss of all his "tessere" (food tickets). the whole packet was stolen by the ice-man, he thought. It is a catastrophe!

During the alarm the Professor confided to me his doubts as to whether Mussolini [[strikethrough]] were [[/strikethrough]] is still alive. There was something peculiar about the whole affair including even the miraculous escape. He did not recognize Mussolini's voice in his message over the radio. Certain words were not pronounced in his usual fashion. He was certain that the message was not delivered by Mussolini. Subsequently the Professor was somewhat perturbed when Vichy announced that the Duce had presided over the first reunion of the Fascist Republic Government.