Chapter 89

After having conducted five interviews via videoconference, we were no closer to hiring a nanny until a chance conversation one weekend in Conti solved the problem for us. When we arrived in the Castle, we found that Luciano was entertaining a visitor in the form of Pietro Vassallo, the two of them having renewed their college friendship. Over dinner at the hotel, Marco let it slip that we were looking for a live-in nanny and that a family member was required for the job.

“I have a niece who wants very badly to go to college,” Pietro said, “but her parents won’t allow her to live among strangers in a big city, even in an all-girl dormitory.”

“There’s an excellent university in Aragoni,” Marco said. “Does she have a particular interest?”

“She wants to be a nurse.”

“Does she have any experience caring for babies and small children?” I said.

“Yes. Her two siblings are much older than she, and she’s taken care of all of their children since she was twelve or thereabouts.”