CHAPTER 94 - A BREATHLESS YEAR ---- CAPÍTULO 94 - UN AÑO TREPIDANTE
On the fifteenth of December, Bernardo the florist arrived with the pinsapo, as he did every year. It was a magnificent specimen, nearly as fine as the one before. Pablo and Rosario received it at the door and carried it to its usual corner beside the bookcase in the drawing room. That same day, Charlotte climbed up to the attic to bring down the crib box. She was now the keeper of the Neapolitan figurines that Mrs. Smith had given to Grandmother Claire decades ago, and it fell to her to see that they remained in perfect condition, each one wrapped in its tissue paper. Every year Charlotte arranged them with the same care, on the mantelpiece in the drawing room, where they could be properly admired but where John P. and Julian could not reach without assistance. 'You both know you are not to touch them,' Charlotte said to John P., who was watching her with interest from the sofa. 'I never touch them,' said John P. 'Quite,' said Charlotte. 'It's your brot...
