The Last Song

a single word. Mama’s lips were pressed together tightly. I knew that she would have plenty to say if I ever spoke to Sofia the way Brianda treated her slave.
    “Let’s go to my chamber,” Brianda suggested, pulling me up from the floor. “I want to show you the necklace Father gave me.”
    I picked up the necklace from the table and walked over to the window to dangle it from my fingers in the sunlight streaming into the room. I had never seen anything like it. It was made of gold so fine that it seemed to have been spun from a glittering cobweb.
    “Try it on,” Brianda said. She took it out of my handand draped it around my neck, fastening it in the back. “It looks beautiful on you.”
    I examined myself in the pier glass. A grown-up stranger was staring back at me. I turned my head sideways. My neck was long and graceful, like that of a swan.
Yonah would think that I was pretty if he saw me now
, I said to myself.
    “This necklace is so fine, more delicate than any I’ve seen before,” I told Brianda.
    “I want you to have it.” Her wide smile slashed across her broad face. “Luis will tell you that you are beautiful when he sees you wearing it.”
    “I couldn’t accept such a gift. You are too generous. Wear it yourself!”
    Brianda sighed. “Such delicate jewelry wouldn’t suit me. What was Father thinking when he bought it for me?” She pinched her fleshy chin and made a face. “My mother is right. I am too plump.”
    “You are not! Any girl would look lovely in such a beautiful necklace.”
    “I wouldn’t. My neck is too fat.” She scowled at her reflection in the mirror. “I shouldn’t eat so many cakes. That stupid slave shouldn’t have offered them to me.”
    “She had to. She was passing the tray around. How could she leave you out?” I couldn’t help myself. “Whydid you accuse her of dropping the cake? She did nothing wrong.”
    Brianda shrugged. “I was angry. Who cares? She is just a slave.” She helped me undo the clasp at the back of the necklace. “You are lucky. Luis is so handsome. You must love him very much.” She straightened the collar of her dress and sighed again. “I wish that Father would find me a husband just like Luis, but Father is too cheap. Mother says that he refuses to give me a dowry as generous as yours. She’ll talk to him again when he comes home from the orchards, but it won’t do any good,” she said petulantly.
    “Be careful what you wish for. Luis isn’t …”
    Mara appeared in the doorway. Her features were calm and composed. “Don Enrique has returned. He requests your presence downstairs, Doña Isabel.”
    I followed her out of the room. I knew better than to keep Papa waiting.
    Mama sent Yussuf to the kitchen when we arrived home.
    “The time has come to tell Isabel everything,” Papa said. “Let’s go to your chamber. We are less likely to be overheard there.”
    Papa locked the door behind us. He and Mamalooked so solemn that my heart began to drum uncontrollably. Mama and I sat down on the edge of her bed as Papa paced the length of the room. Abruptly, he stopped in front of me.
    “Let’s get it over with,” he said. “Did you wonder, my daughter, why Fray Torquemada condescended to stop to talk to us today?”
    “If you were more familiar with the world outside of our home, you would have heard that the Grand Inquisitor is not known for his friendliness,” Mama added. “Did you wonder why he was curious about our family?”
    I shook my head.
    She clasped my hands in hers. “My darling, what we are about to tell you is difficult to believe – another secret that you must keep to yourself.”
    “Too many secrets, Mama …”
    “We just want to protect you.”
    I cast down my eyes, for she always said that she could read my face like a book. I didn’t want her to guess that I had told Yonah about our family’s Jewish past. She wouldn’t understand. Nor would Papa. They would be furious – they didn’t know him like I did. They wouldn’t believe that he would never betray us.
    “Show the package to Isabel,” Mama said. “That’s the easiest way to explain.”
    Papa walked over to an ornately carved ebony bureau and pulled out the bottom drawer. He turned the drawer upside down, dumping a tangle of Mama’s linens onto her bed. Then he pressed on the bottom left corner of the drawer with his fingers. Suddenly, the bottom of the drawer slid open, revealing a hidden compartment. There was an object in