“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.”

José smiled as he bit into a chunk of bread. “And my boys? How are they?”

I took a deep breath. “Menotti is on his way to your old school in Turin.” José stopped chewing and looked at me. “I hope you don’t mind; they extended a personal invitation and, well, it was either that or he goes to the Catholic school your mother tried to enroll him in.”

José tore his cheese and meat into smaller pieces. “No, I don’t mind. He does have to attend school, after all. I just hope they don’t expel him like they did me.”