‘Leonarda Lunetta, here you are at last!’ She beckoned Luna to her, cocking her head to one side and raising her brows pointedly. ‘Come, stand by me.’

Luna went to kiss her, bowing her head at the sound of her formal name. She angled herself around the table, which took up most of the space in the middle of the room. The kitchen was large, but it was congested with furniture and utensils; nothing was small save for the numerous little drawers in the spice cabinet that took up most of one wall. Oval serving dishes had been placed on the top of the cabinet in readiness. The hearth glowed with coals and two large terracotta pots were strung across the heat. To one side lay an array of unused pots and pans. Ladles, carving knives and other utensils were hung from large hooks in the stone beside the hearth. Dried grease coated the bricks within the hearth making them look like mangled, disfigured creatures.

‘You are late,’ Mamma Lucrezia said as she kissed Luna’s forehead. She smelt sweet as dough. ‘I expected you in time to bathe Filippo. You know how he loves those games you play with him. I had to ask Livia to bathe him, though Lord knows how that went.’ She shook her head and gave Luna a scowl as if to say her brother’s state of cleanliness would be her fault.

Luna pictured Livia trying to get Pippo to wash, and that made her feel even worse, for Livia had not the patience to chase Pippo, nor to entice him towards the wash room. She was still his favourite, though, when it came time to be put to bed, and Livia kept his room in order and managed his mealtimes. Luna couldn’t imagine the household without her.

‘Forgive me. I always think I will be faster than I am.’

‘Did I not tell you to take the litter?’

‘It’s too big for me alone.’ Luna didn’t reveal that she’d ridden a mule home.

‘It’s my choice to shield you from ridicule, daughter. My words may chafe at your pride, but they are plain and true; when you are in the litter, you are hidden. I may not be able to stop you from roaming the streets like a boy—your father lets it be so—but I can and will insist on modesty whenever possible.’ The kitchen had fallen silent. ‘Now, wash your hands and find your sister for me. She frolics somewhere outdoors and ignores my calls to come inside. Her antics age me ten moons in a day.’

Luna nodded and moved to the basin of water set aside for the kitchen girls to wash, where she splashed her hands about briefly. Her step-mamma had already turned away to the fireplace to check the bubbling pots so she left the kitchen, happy to have escaped without a harsher chiding.