“For him?”
“Yes.”
“He has cashmere blankets downstairs. We don’t need your charity.”
“Then why wasn’t there one in the room?”
Mrs. Gable’s mouth tightened. “You are not here to question this household.”
She marched to the windows and pulled the curtains shut. Giovanni’s breathing grew shallow.
Nora moved toward the curtains. “He likes to see outside.”
“You have no idea what he likes.”
Nora did not open them again while Mrs. Gable watched. She needed the job. But she met Giovanni’s eyes and said, clearly enough for both of them to hear, “I’ll be back at breakfast.”
In the kitchen, Celia handed her a wrapped sandwich.
“You stood up to her,” Celia murmured.
“I asked about curtains.”
“Here, that’s the same thing.”
The next morning, Nora found Giovanni’s blue blanket in a laundry basket.
She washed it, dried it, and put it back on his lap.
That afternoon, a message circulated among the staff: Lorenzo Moretti was coming home.
The estate changed character in less than an hour.
Fresh flowers arrived. Crystal glasses were polished and counted. Men in dark coats checked doors and windows. Mrs. Gable sent someone to replace the carpet outside Giovanni’s room, though she still did not send anyone to help him eat lunch.
Nora asked Celia who Lorenzo was.
“John’s son,” Celia said. “The one everyone works hard not to disappoint.”
“Does he know about his father?”
Celia gave her a bleak look. “He sends money. I don’t know how much else he sees.”
By evening, snow had begun falling in heavy sheets. The weather service warned of a dangerous storm moving across the city. The estate’s iron gates were rimmed with ice, and the road beyond was becoming difficult to see.
Mrs. Gable called Nora into the pantry.
“You’re assigned to the entrance hall, both staircases, and the main reception room. They must be spotless.”
Nora looked at the list. “That’s more than one person can finish before he arrives.”
“Then work faster.”
“Could Celia help with the stairs?”
“No. And keep your pregnancy out of this. We need people who can work.”
Nora used a long-handled mop and took breaks when she became lightheaded. She refused to carry a heavy floor machine down the staircase.
