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- II8 -

by much laughter.

It is said that Berenson has never left Tuscany and is hiding in a villa not far from his own; but this villa is still surrounded by Germans. May luck be with him!

D.di D. came up to see us. His adventures have been fantastic. Menaced by the Partisans with machine-guns, he was escorted to the Partisan head-quarters to be judged and probably killed. However, he was able to prove that for a long while he has been an anti-Fascist and as such he was released for the time being. When the order came to evacuate his flat on the Lungarno, the Countess was suffering from intestinal cramps. The difficulty of getting her to a hospital at such a moment seemed insurmountable. Subsequently she was carried on a stretcher by the 'Misericordia' who in black-hooded cloaks and with brandishing torches managed to make their way through the crowds to a hospital. Afterwards this hospital was shelled and she was again conveyed to another where she remained completely alone until D. di D. found her after much searching and climbing over walls, since the usual roads were blocked.

September 2nd  The guns are still making it impossible to sleep except at very short and rare intervals, during which one is beset by nightmares. N. says that my gurgling and moaning are at times alarming and so she has to come into my room to wake me up. It is now on to a month since this racket began