midday
She then wandered about the house seeking a mistress , any mistress , who would tell her what to cook , and finding none ; and at last , directed by Francesca , who always knew where everybody was , came out to Lady Caroline . Dominica had provided this cook . She was Costanza , the sister of that one of his cousins who kept a restaurant down on the piazza . She helped her brother in his cooking when she had no other job , and knew every sort of fat , mysterious Italian dish such as the workmen of Castagneto , who crowded the restaurant at midday , and the inhabitants of Mezzago when they came over on Sundays , loved to eat . She was a fleshless spinster of fifty , grey-haired , nimble , rich of speech , and thought Lady Caroline more beautiful than anyone she had ever seen ; and so did Domenico ; and so did the boy Giuseppe who helped Domenico and was , besides , his nephew ; and so did the girl Angela who helped Francesca and was , besides , Domenico 's niece ; and so did Francesca herself . Domenico and Francesca , the only two who had seen them , thought the two ladies who arrived last very beautiful , but compared to the fair young lady who arrived first they were as candles to the electric light that had lately been installed , and as the tin tubs in the bedrooms to the wonderful new bathroom their master had had arranged on his last visit . Lady Caroline scowled at the cook .