The next sennight passed as any other as the first month of summer came to an end. The rising temperatures led the family outdoors into the restorative cool of the longer evenings and the intense, unmistakable smell of salted fish became a familiar scent on the clothes they wore. It was an aroma Luna would forever associate with late evenings spent in the garden.

The family usually travelled to the Medici country villa to escape the city through the hottest months, but this year they were to stay home. Luna missed the sense of busy anticipation that normally filled the house before their journey. Mamma Lucrezia was agitated. She faced the prospect of summer in a hot kitchen with no change to her routine. She insisted the windows in the main hall be left open through the night and then closed before the heat of the day set in. Each morning, the family gathered briefly in the dulled light, where the cool of the flagstones allowed each of them to continue more comfortably into the business of their day.

Luna walked into the main hall early one morning. It was the most formal room in the Fusili palazzo, used for important celebrations and to entertain dignitaries. Colourful tapestries draped down the walls on one side, the other offered a view of the piazza through squares of glass. This summer the grand space had become the family’s morning retreat. Luna’s relief at the feel of the captured night air evaporated immediately. Mamma Lucrezia was standing by the windows, a shawl gathered around her shoulders. Luna worried she might be unwell for it was far too warm for a covering. The shutters had already been closed against the looming sun yet her step-mamma still stood before them. Luna hurried over. Mamma Lucrezia swung round at the sound of her peg-leg and Luna briefly saw the fresh bruising on her neck and upper arm before she pulled the shawl around her.

‘Let’s sit before your brother comes and takes the best chair.’ Mamma Lucrezia said nothing further and Luna asked no questions. The rest of the family began to appear and Mamma Lucrezia kept the shawl wrapped around her. Luna saw bubbles of moisture on her upper lip. She offered to fetch a glass of cold wine but in response, her step-mamma announced that they’d sat idly for long enough and it was time to look to their daily duties. Luna was glad to leave the main hall that morning.