Free Sisters of Glass by Stephanie Hemphill

says.
    “Do you suppose she misses me?” I ask him.
    “I am certain that right now, instead
    of marveling as she should, as any girl should,
    about her good fortune
    in taking such a dashing husband,
    she is lamenting the fact
    that you will not be around
    to sketch for her.
    Oh, Maria, will you never be satisfied?”
    I shrug.
    “Well, my dear. Close your eyes now
    and I shall give you your wedding gift.”
    Luca leads me from my mother’s palazzo
    into the road. I feel the last stretch of sun
    upon my face. And before I can orient myself,
    Luca spins me round like a child’s game.
    “This is foolish,” I say.
    When I open my eyes,
    we stand in the second fornica.
    The furnace is repaired, only it differs
    slightly from our first fornica.
    “What is that oven over there
    and those tools?” I ask.
    “I thought that with your talent
    at sketching, you might try enameling
    while I blow glass. We could then
    work together.”
    I am stunned, still and silent as a wall.
    “Oh, you hate it.
    You need never work, Maria.
    I just thought—”
    I stutter. “I … love … it. I just don’t
    know what to say.”
    “Well, that is a new proposition.
    Maria Barovier without words.”
    Luca smiles.
    “Well, then kiss me, you foolish girl.”
    And so, I do.

GLOSSARY
annealer —an oven that is generally heated to about 900 degrees Fahrenheit and used to cool the glass slowly. Overnight, the oven is brought to room temperature so that the glass does not crack from stress.
batch —the mixture of raw components that is used to make glass.
beaker —a glass used for drinking during the Renaissance. It may be made of clear glass and decorated with colorful enamel and gold leaf to signify special occasions.
bella —Italian for “beautiful.”
bench —the place where the gaffer works the piece and where all the tools are kept. It has two rails perpendicular to the seat on which the glass pipes are rolled.
Berlingozzo —a simple, ring-shaped cake that was popular for Carnevale in the late fifteenth century. Its name may derive from the word Berlingaccio , meaning “Fat Thursday.”
betrothal goblet —a vessel made during the courtship and marriage process in Renaissance times, often of Venetian enameled and gilded glass. It was not an item that was used for drinking, but rather a keepsake, commissioned for the special occasion of marriage. Sometimes it contained profiles of the bride and groom.
biretta —a type of headdress composed of three or four rigid sections and a tassel that evolved in the Middle Ages among the cultured classes and the ecclesiastical hierarchies. The felt biretta that was very much in fashion was often yellowish in color. A hat resembling the black biretta continues to be used in courtrooms by judges and lawyers.
bits —tiny scraps of glass that can be added to the mixture to give color, texture, or shape to the glass.
blocks —hand-sized wooden molds used in the early stages of glass shaping.
blowpipe —a hollow steel rod with a mouthpiece at one end that the gaffer blows through to create a bubble in the glass.
bolognini —a unit of currency equal to 1/100 of a ducat.
buon giorno, signore —Italian for “Good day, sir.”
camicia —a slip, shift, or chemise that was worn underneath women’s garments, generally coming to about mid-calf and made of fine linen. The word camicia means “shirt” in Italian.
capon —a castrated rooster or meat from a castrated rooster. It is especially tender and much less stringy than chicken.
cardinal —the highest church official in the city of Venice in the fifteenth century. He wielded great political and social influence and, with a conclave of other cardinals across Italy, chose the next pope.
Carnevale mask —Carnevale is a festival in Venice that is celebrated before the Lenten season (from two weeks before Ash Wednesday until Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras) during which masks are worn, making it impossible to distinguish between the social classes.