hit my back let me know she had gone.
I slowly turned round and saw the hem of her gown disappearing up the stairs. At that moment, Hafeza crossed the courtyard to the well. I remained still, lost in the shadows that lingered in the workshop, watching as she lowered the bucket. She was humming a tune that I knew came from her home country. Her eyes followed the bucket and she bent over the edge of the well. In repose, her face possessed a gentleness and kindness that I recalled had once appealed to me. But I knew it to be false. Like Giaconda’s beauty or Signor Maleovelli’s benevolence, it was a mask designed to lure people closer the way fire does air, the chameleon insects, or the moon attracts the stars. We all wore masks in this casa.
But beneath the façade of servitude and obedience, I wondered what the real Hafeza was like, how this woman could be loyal to the Maleovellis. What did they inspire that she was forever obedient to their whim, served them unquestioningly? What horrors had they rescued her from? For that seemed to be their way. Jacopo, consigned to the life of a cripple, an orphan, first in a convent, then in the streets until his father claims him, relying on his son’s gratitude for a lifetime of loyalty. Hafeza, a mute slave given the task of raising Giaconda. Does such munificence engender trust in return? I thought of my own circumstances. It did – for a while. I was grateful, and in turn that made me not only admire the Maleovellis but seek their admiration in return.
Lost in my reflections, I noticed Hafeza had left only when she was mounting the stairs, struggling with a full bucket. She would be replenishing my water, no doubt. It was time to leave.
I moved the votives to a space where they could cool undisturbed. Then, picking up the pot, I scraped the remnants of the wax out of the bottom and threw them in the fire. I wanted no evidence of this batch to remain – no opportunity for the Maleovelli’s to abuse my talents. When I’d finished, I took the pot out to the well and scrubbed it thoroughly, along with the spoons and knife.
I re-entered the workshop, standing still to wait for my eyes to grow accustomed again. As I did, I noticed the door to Baroque’s room was ajar. I placed the implements back on the shelves and then paused.
Curiousity overcame me and I pushed the door open further and stepped inside Baroque’s room. I had only ever been in there once before, when I’d hidden from Lord Waterford – and that had only been brief and my anxiety at being discovered had discouraged me from exploring. There were no such deterrents now. My eyes travelled over the space. It was small and neat. His bed was unmade, but his belongings, such as they were, lay folded on the chair or the small rickety table. A stock of candles sat to one side, a holder with a melted stump nearby.
Where was he, this man who didn’t know the meaning of loyalty and yet desired to be friends? Who warned me away with words but lured me closer with actions. He too had betrayed me but, like the Maleovellis, when had he ever promised anything else? He told me not to trust him. Why did the Maleovellis – well, the Signor at least – give Baroque so much responsibility? First to find me and, later, to kidnap Pillar. I knew that Baroque was behind that, and at first it had enraged me. But when I touched the iron bars of Pillar’s prison, I had also learnt something else, something that in the whirlpool of my emotions I’d only sorted later. It was Baroque who had brought Pillar food, fresh clothes, and extra blankets when winter descended. It was Baroque who had spent nights talking to Pillar and easing his solitude. I was grateful for that. Was that why Baroque’s attitude towards me had changed? Had Pillar facilitated that? The man I sensed in this bedroom and had worked with side by side no longer accorded with the one who had followed me almost two years ago in the Candlemakers Quartiere or who had lured Pillar from his house to the Maleovellis’ dungeon. Where had that man gone?
Surely these journals that kept him here, as much against his will as Pillar, could not be that