“Oh.” Saida chewed her lip. “Sorry.”
The one good thing about her itinerary was the fact that the only thing she needed to do to survive the day was sit.
It nearly killed her anyway.
It took an hour before Mastro Pasquale was satisfied with her pose, since she couldn’t physically arrange her subject, and Alessa was worse at taking directions than usual.
Silver haired, vaguely androgynous, and with features so striking she could have been one of her own sculptures, the mastro also had such a dry wit Alessa could never be sure if she was joking and had learned long ago that it was always safer not to laugh.
Mastro Pasquale finally moved behind her easel but continued to quiz her former pupil about sfumato and chiaroscuro, ordering her to tilt her head, arch her back, raise and then lower her chin, while she sketched an initial outline.
Long before the artist declared an end to the day’s session, Alessa was convinced sitting was the most difficult physical task of them all. Her only consolation was that Dante had looked a bit stunned when she stepped out in the red gown, and he’d barely looked away since.
“Beautiful contrapposto,” Mastro Pasquale said to Dante, who’d been watching the ordeal from a safe distance. “Finestra, you see the smooth line of leg there, how the off-axis twist of his torso accentuates both shoulders and hip?”
Dante looked slightly alarmed as Alessa nodded thoughtfully.
Mastro Pasquale snapped her fingers. “You should come to my studio and model for my next sculpture.”
“You really should,” Alessa said through gritted teeth so she didn’t ruin the “curve of her neck” for the third time. “Mastro Pasquale is famous for her attention to anatomical details.”
“This is true,” the mastro said as she began packing up her supplies. “I pay well, too, but don’t bother coming by if you’re a wilting violet.”
Alessa rubbed her neck. “Oh, Dante assures me he is not shy at all.”
“Excellent. Here’s my card. Finestra, it’s been an honor. I will return when your Fonte is ready.” She handed Dante a gilded slip of paper and swept out of the gardens.
Dante flicked the card at Alessa. “Did you just volunteer me as a nude model?”
Alessa plucked the card from where it fell in the grass. “You spend half your time standing around and scowling. Might as well get paid for it.”
“You’re already paying me for it, and I get to keep my clothes on.”
As they reached the fourth floor, Dante stopped. “Is it okay if I run out real quick? You should be safe enough if you lock yourself in. Won’t take long.”
Alessa’s heart and stomach competed to see which could sink faster at the prospect of the rest of the day alone, locked in her rooms while everyone else spent time with family and friends. Even Dante had better things to do on his day off than stay with her. “Visiting someone special?”
“No. Just checking something.”
“Left a lantern burning?”
“Something like that.”
The day stretched ahead of her, silent and lonely, but she pasted on a smile and told him to go right ahead.
“First, let me show you the barricade I found—” Dante tensed as they entered her suite. “Wait. Someone’s been in here.”
Her eyes darted in every direction, but the only thing out of place was a platter of lemon verbena cookies on the table. She could smell the zesty tang and see the curls of candied lemon peel on top.
“It’s okay,” she said, exhaling. “Someone dropped off treats.”
“Don’t the servants usually leave food in the hall?” he asked. “How many people have keys to your suite?”
She frowned. “I don’t know. Someone comes to change the linens and to clean and…” She squirmed under his judging gaze.
“We’re changing the locks.” Dante reached the platter first, snatching it up to sniff it.
She crossed her arms. “Are you going to lick them, too, or do I get one?”
He took a small bite and promptly spit it into his hand. “Daphne.”
“Who?”
“Daphne gnidium. A poison that tastes terrible, so you probably wouldn’t have eaten enough for it to kill you, but even a few bites and you’d wish it had. Be thankful for amateur assassins.”
She sat with a gusty exhale. “How do you know what poison tastes like?”
“I was a stupid kid.” He dumped the remaining treats into a trash bin, examined the tray, then tossed it, too. “I’ll get your food from now on. One of the kitchen maids was eager enough to show me around. I’ll talk to her.”