In 1940, Mr. Sinclair asks Juliet Browning if she would like to serve her country. Mr. Sinclair informs Juliet that Italy may allow Germany to use the Venice harbor from which to attack Greece, Cyprus, or Malta. Juliet’s home in Venice overlooks the harbor, so Mr. Sinclair asks her to observe shipping activity and report it to the British military.

Mr. Sinclair explains the system they will use for communication and assures Juliet that since she’ll never have to make personal contact with anyone, she won’t be at risk of betraying her country if she is questioned.

Juliet wonders if she is unwise for agreeing, but that doesn’t stop her. She chooses Romeo as her code name in an allusion to Romeo and Juliet.

In 1928, 18-year-old Juliet is invited by her aunt Hortensia on an Italian tour as a birthday present.

On their second day in Venice they go to St. Mark’s Square and the Doge’s Palace. As they view the paintings at the Doge’s Palace, Hortensia tells Juliet, “If you wish to be an artist, you can do no better than making careful observations here” (10). Juliet feels as if the world is before her now that she no longer has to return to Miss Masters’s Academy for Young Ladies.