After the revelation, Franz went silent.
Not from anger. Not from coldness. He had been handed something he didn't know what to do with yet, and he needed time to work out what that was.
He didn't leave the table. He didn't make a scene. He picked up his wine glass and held it and said nothing while the conversation moved around him.
Arianne helped the twins with their bedtime routines. Lily had to be convinced that she didn't need to brush her teeth three times just because they were in a foreign country.
"The germs are the same," Arianne said. "Brushing once is enough."
Leo had to be convinced that the whale didn't need its own pillow: the one on the bed was sufficient, and the whale had never complained before. By the time both children were settled, the suite had dropped into the particular hush of a household winding down.
