The Masquerade of Shadows

The winter mist hung over the Venetian lagoon like a silver funeral shroud, muffling the distant tolls of the bells from St. Mark's Campanile. Venice in late February was a realm of liquid shadows, ancient stone, and ghostly theatricality. The Palazzo di Ombra, rising four stories from the dark, green waters of the Rio di San Trovaso, was an architectural masterpiece of Venetian-Gothic splendor that had belonged to Julian von…