Violetta leaves Pescara with Gallante Selvi

Violetta leaves Pescara with Gallante Selvi on October 1, turning public humiliation and threats at home into a sudden break with her family and village. The departure is also a turning point in the account of her life: she goes without saying goodbye, and the scandal surrounding her continues after she and Selvi have gone.

Pressure Before the Departure

In the days after her public humiliation, people stared at Violetta, whispered about her, and spat at her. Even her sisters distanced themselves and would not speak to her. At home, Selvi tried to carry out his threat to beat her, but an old woman stood between them and forbade it. He instead resorted to growling, shoving, and threatening Violetta when his godmother was not there to hear.

The Departure

Within a month of the humiliation, Selvi left Pescara at night. A porter at the station reported that the artist took two trunks, two portfolios of drawings and paintings he had made of Violetta, and Violetta herself. She had said goodbye to no one—not even her father. The account establishes that she left with Selvi, but not that they had married.

Rumors and Aftermath

Fearing that the scandal would cost him business, Violetta’s father spread a story that Padre Pomposo had secretly married Selvi and Violetta before their departure. The priest denied the claim publicly the following Sunday. Her father then tried another response, denouncing his daughter in the streets; his business nevertheless declined. Before the month ended, a drunken man killed him in a tavern brawl. Selvi and Violetta, by then in Torino, were informed of his death, but Violetta did not return for his burial. The village’s condemnation of her thus outlasted her departure, while her absence at the funeral made the family rupture final within this episode.