Emilia Lucca

Emilia Lucca (née Barelli) is an Italian woman who is central in "The Adventure of the Red Circle". 
She was born in the Posillipo district of Naples, the daughter of a prominent lawyer named Augusto Barelli. She fell in love with Gennaro Lucca, an employee of her father, but when Barelli disapproved the match, the pair ran away together, got married and moved to the United States.
In New York, Gennaro met a rich Italian named Tito Castalotte, who hired him and became a close friend of the couple. Emilia and her husband lived well for a while, until Gennaro ran into Giuseppe Gorgiano. Gorgiano was the head of a dangerous secret society called the Red Circle, of which Gennaro himself had been a member in Italy. Though Gennaro had wanted to leave his past behind, Gorgiano forced him to rejoin the group. Worse, Gorgiano became infatuated with Emilia upon meeting her, and one night tried to force himself on her while Gennaro was out. Gennaro came home and fought the man to defend his beloved. As punishment, he was ordered to kill his friend Castalotte. The couple decided to escape instead. They warned Castalotte of the danger, provided him with information he could give the police, and fled to England.
When they arrived in London, Gennaro made arrangements to protect Emilia. He rented a room a Mrs Warren, and paid more than the usual rent if she would follow his conditions, which was that she would disturb him and leave the food on a chair outside the door. When he had made the arrangements, he and Emilia switched places, so that she could hide in the room without even having the other residents of the house knowing who was staying there. Emilia never left her room and took measures to ensure that she didn't reveal her gender. Gennaro, meanwhile, had some work to do and could only contact her through a newspaper. The landlady, who was getting nervous due to the secrecy, hired Sherlock Holmes to investigate the case.
Ultimately, Gorgiano managed to track down Gennaro, and attacked him while he was sending his wife coded messages; Gennaro, however, managed to stab him in the throat in self-defense. When Sherlock Holmes and the police arrived on the scene, Gennaro was gone, but Holmes used the candle to ask Emilia Lucca to come over so she could explain their story. The Luccas were arrested for Gorgiano's death; nevertheless, while the story does not state the outcome of the investigation, nobody believes they will face punishment for the incident.
de:Emilia Lucca
Category:Characters: His Last Bow
Category:Italian characters