Chapter 3
WHEN FATHER and Master Deim were gone, Johanna asked the maid to tell Nellie to see her in the dressing room.
Johanna went down the corridor to that room. The damage from fires and subsequent flooding was extensive and had left marks almost everywhere: wallpaper was peeling, floor tiles had come up, dark stains marked the walls and all of the king’s beautiful furniture had been stolen, leaving her and Roald with old things from the attic that were often also water-damaged.
There was no money to buy new furniture and no money to fix the damage. Most of the groundsmen were working for the palace in exchange for a roof over their heads and food in their bellies, but they received no pay.
The dressing room held only a row of wardrobes in which Johanna had collected all the clothe
