Returning to Ruffano, he learned of his father’s death sometime previously in an Allied prison camp, and his mother’s and younger brother’s presumed death by enemy bombing. Undaunted though bereaved, Aldo Donati studied at the university of Ruffano, and obtained an Honors Degree in Arts. He joined the Arts Council and devoted the remainder of his life to his work for the Council, for the preservation of the ducal palace and its treasures, and, last but not least, for the welfare of orphaned students. It was my privilege, as Rector of the university, to work with him on Festival productions, and I can only state, without any qualification whatsoever, that his ability in this field surpassed anything I had hitherto seen. He was brilliant, and his enthusiasm so inspired his actors and all who took part in Festival productions that they came to believe—and I speak from experience, my wife and I being among the participants until this year—that what they enacted was not fiction but reality.
Whether his choice for this year’s Festival production was wise or not need not be discussed here. The unhappy Duke Claudio is not one whose memory we wish to recall; the Ruffanesi of both yesterday and today prefer to forget him. He was an evil man with evil intentions, ill-disposed to all his people, admired only by a narrow circle of friends as ignoble as himself. He left behind him a legacy of hate. However this may be, Aldo Donati decided that he had a claim to fame, if only because of his Jehu feat of driving eighteen horses through the city of Ruffano, from the northern to the southern hill. Whether Duke Claudio actually achieved this feat is still uncertain. Aldo Donati did. The people who watched him do so on Friday morning will never forget the experience.
Had he stopped there, it would have sufficed. What he had achieved was fantastic, even sublime. But he aimed higher still, and lost his life in so aiming. The mechanism was not at fault. Experts have examined the apparatus. Aldo Donati seems to have ignored the elementary rule learned by every student parachutist—to pull the rip cord. Why he ignored it, we shall never know. His brother, Armino Donati, who returned to Ruffano last week after an absence of over twenty years and who will, we hope, remain with us to carry on the work with orphaned students, told me he believed that his brother, in midair, had a sudden vision, some sort of ecstasy blinding him to danger.
It may be true. Like Icarus, he flew too near the sun. Like Lucifer, he fell. We, the Ruffanesi who remain, salute the courage of a man who dared.
GASPARE BUTALI,
Rector, University of Ruffano.
Ruffano, Easter Week.
About the Author
Daphne du Maurier (1907–1989) was born in London, the daughter of the actor Sir Gerald du Maurier and granddaughter of the author and artist George du Maurier. Her first novel, The Loving Spirit, was published in 1931, but it would be her fifth novel, Rebecca, that made her one of the most popular authors of her day. Besides novels, du Maurier wrote plays, biographies, and several collections of short fiction. Many of her works were made into films, including Rebecca, Jamaica Inn, My Cousin Rachel, “Don’t Look Now,” and “The Birds.” She lived most of her life in Cornwall, and was made a Dame of the British Empire in 1969.
Books by Daphne du Maurier
Novels
The Loving Spirit
I’ll Never Be Young Again
Julius
Jamaica Inn
Rebecca
Frenchman’s Creek
Hungry Hill
The King’s General
The Parasites
My Cousin Rachel
Mary Anne
The Scapegoat
Castle Dor
The Glass-Blowers
The Flight of the Falcon
The House on the Strand
Rule Britannia
Short Stories
The Birds and Other Stories
The Breaking Point: Stories
Don’t Look Now and Other Stories
Nonfiction
Gerald: A Portrait
The du Mauriers
The Infernal World of Branwell Brontë
Golden Lads: A Study of Anthony Bacon, Francis, and Their Friends
The Winding Stair: Francis Bacon, His Rise and Fall
Myself When Young
The Rebecca Notebook and Other Memories
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Contents
Cover
Title Page
Welcome
Foreword
Author’s Note
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Extract From “The Weekly Courier” Ruffano
About the Author
Books by Daphne du Maurier
Newsletters
Copyright
Copyright
The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Copyright © 1965 by The Estate of Daphne du Maurier
Foreword copyright © 2005 by Amanda Craig
Cover design by Susan Zucker
Cover image by Trevillion
Cover copyright © 2013 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
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First Little, Brown ebook edition: December 2013
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ISBN 978-0-316-25353-6
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