The dinner today was a tense affair, despite Cael's best attempts to change it. No amount of conversation about weather and delicious dishes could soften the glances that today's guest was attracting from the Oliveira family.
Yet Ginevra, the object of all the attention, wasn't affected by it at all. She ate with gusto, and even politely complimented the chef and the hostess—Cael's mother.
Mother—the reason Ginevra sat at the place of a guest, next to Vittorio, at all. Father never would have invited Ginevra to dine with him; but Cael could imagine Mother saying, in her coldly polite tone, "It doesn't matter if she's your worst enemy—as long as a lady is your guest, she shall be welcomed as one."
Not to say Mother was warm to Ginevra, but at least she didn't show any animosity outright.