“I have—” Medici began.

“It’s a wonder he isn’t dead,” I grumbled as I threw open the shutters. “You.” I pointed to a servant. “Douse that fire.” The servant looked from me to Medici, who gave the subtlest nod of encouragement.

My attention turned to José, who lay tossing and turning in his bed. I pulled off the damp blankets that were twisted around his legs. “Paolo, rub his feet. We need to draw down the fever.”

I sat by the head of the bed. José’s breathing was raspy. I put my head to his sweat-drenched chest. It was clear, and his heartbeat steady. I breathed a sigh of relief. The servant, a thin boy whose coal-black hair was cut close to his head, cautiously moved forward. “Madam, is there anything else I can get you?”

“Fresh water…and rags.”

“Tesoro.” My husband groaned in his delirium. “Tesoro.”

“He keeps saying that, but I am not sure what treasure he is referring to.”

“He’s referring to me, Mr. Medici,” I said as I leaned down and tore the hem from my skirt. “I am his treasure.” I used my freshly made rag to wipe the sweat from his brow.

Working through my exhaustion, I spent the evening waging battle with his fever, pressing cool rags to his face. My eyelids began to feel heavy as the night pressed on, but my husband was still delirious with fever.

“Anita!” Feeling disoriented, I sat upright. The room that had been dark had sunshine spilling through the windows. I looked at the bed: José was panicked as he tried to get out of the bed. “Anita, tell me, where are the children?”

I laid a hand on his arm. “They are with your mother and the nurse.”

He eased himself back down onto the pillows. “Thank you, tesoro mio, you have brought me back to life. I will see to it that you are escorted back home.”

“You will do no such thing!”

“But the children need you.”

“You need me! José, I can’t stay there with your mother. I feel like I am going to wither and die.” I took a breath, composing myself. “You have said it yourself: We are safer when we are together.”

“Anita, I know you are used to a certain amount of excitement, but the men here will not be comfortable with a woman present.”

“They will learn to live with me.” I took him by the hand. “Husband, believe me when I tell you this: If you send me away, I will only come back.”

He wiped a hand over his pale face. “I should learn not to argue with you.”

I grinned. “That would be wise.”

He fell against his pillows. “Tell me. What news do you have of my children? Has Teresita succeeded in breaking all of my mother’s valuables?”

“She has been too distracted by the dollhouse Paolo brought for her.” A servant slipped into the room with a tray of bread and meat. “She plays with it all day and sleeps with her dolls in her bed at night.”