January 20, Florence.
Since the war began, news of setbacks at the front had arrived without respite, and the mood in the city grew increasingly bleak. Many wealthy residents wanted to flee with their fortunes, and Phil Di Maggio began thinking of escape.
He entered Pauli's study and urged his elder brother to make plans before it was too late:
"Word arrived yesterday that the fleets of France, Portugal, Genoa, and Naples have finished assembling and blockaded the waters off Livorno. We can no longer escape by sea.
"Our only way out now is east, over the Apennine Mountains. We can board a merchant ship at a port on the eastern coast and stay in the Eastern Roman Empire for a while. I heard the Montferrat family fled long ago. There's nothing shameful about it."
Fleeing meant that Di Maggio would have to abandon his properties, along with the prestige his family had painstakingly built in Florence.
Pauli stared at the map, still clinging to his illusions.
Not long ago, the Holy Roman Empire, Aragon, and several local Italian powers had declared their entry into the war. If they could hold out a little longer, perhaps the situation on the battlefield would change.
Phil pleaded from afternoon until dusk, but his brother never agreed. At dinner that evening, in front of the family, the brothers erupted into the fiercest argument of their lives.
"You want to stay? Fine, that's your decision. But nobody else has any reason to stay here and die with you."
Phil slammed the table in anger and flung out one last remark before leaving. "I'm setting off tomorrow morning. Anyone who wants to come should pack tonight!"
A moment later, Phil's wife and eldest son exchanged a glance, put down their cutlery, and left.
Pauli's children