‘I have something to show you,’ she promised, her dark eyes sparkling.Althea followed and waited while Carla unwrapped a fancy box, then took from the tissue paper a length of exquisite silk.‘Your father, Lorenzo, has given me this lovely fabric for a dress for the wedding.’Althea smiled. ‘It’s lovely and suits your colouring.’ The printed pattern of deep rose and plum with splashes of acid green was beautifully blended.‘Have you a good dressmaker?’ Althea asked.‘Oh yes. Here in Anacapri there is Barbarina. She has made many dresses for me and Mamma.’‘Don’t you usually buy them in Naples?’‘Sometimes. Also, when Mamma has money, we go to Rome for a—what do you say?—a spree?’‘A shopping spree.’Althea was thinking that she would be dubious herself in entrusting such costly silk to a village dressmaker, but perhaps Carla knew Barbarina’s skills.‘I think it is most lucky that Lorenzo will give us beautiful silks,’ Carla said. ‘Now we shall always be well dressed.’ Althea found on returning to her room that her father had also treated her to a length.‘There’s enough for a dress and a full-length coat,’ he said, as she unfolded the silk.‘Thank you, Father.
