Lent, also called Pre-Lent, came forty days before Easter. Great fasting began on this day, so for the two weeks before it, Venetians donned masks and reveled as wildly as they could, as though enjoying everything they would be denied during the fasting period.
This day was said to have originated from the Saturnalia of Ancient Rome. However, Ancient Rome had more than one agricultural god. If it commemorated Saturn, then Carnival should have been in December, and Christmas came at the end of that month.
Another explanation was that it commemorated the god of wine. Every March, the Mediterranean region was more or less warm and blooming, making it suitable to pray to the god of wine, who governed the harvest, for favorable weather.
Though Venice itself had little agriculture, its mainland territories did. Besides, sailing also required favorable winds.
Only after returning to the suite did Georgiana realize it. Venice was in the middle of Carnival. Why didn't she and Polina put on masks and go have fun?
Why keep working? Why meet religious representatives? Sirius Black had not set up a trust, so naturally he could spend as much as he wanted—but once it was gone, it was gone. Most people in London with backgrounds similar to his lived so freely by relying on trusts. People without worries even seemed to have thicker hair.
Davout had gone bald in his thirties. The key was that he did not even wear a wig. Fortunately, the Imperial Guard had to wear hats. The Italian honor guard varied in height, but Astorre was not Mediterranean and was rather tall. Georgiana could not remember his face, though he could not have been too ugly. If one ignored the issue of hair, Davout was fairly good-looking.
"Madam!" Feilier shouted.
"What is it?"