"All right, Miss Theresa."
Ribak answered meticulously. His gaze swept briefly over Angel before returning to the villa beside him.
Angel appreciated the distance the butler kept. She boarded the hired carriage, waited until Ribak had taken the seat diagonally across from her and the carriage had begun to move, then continued:
"Next, I need to hire servants and buy whatever this villa is missing. I'd like your advice."
She called it asking for advice, but Angel knew nothing about the matter and was counting on Ribak's expertise to save her.
She had already asked him plenty of questions on the way to inspect the house. He showed no impatience now, answering methodically:
"Given the size of the residence and the standing expected on this street, you'll need at least a female butler to manage the maids and household expenses. You'll also need two personal maids, two senior maids for the bedrooms, two junior maids for the sitting room and drawing room, three male servants to receive guests, two kitchen maids, two laundry maids, and three male servants for heavy work.
"Besides those, you'll need a chef and an assistant cook. The many plants in your garden will require two gardeners.
"If you don't intend to hire a carriage each day, you'll need two of your own: a two-wheeled carriage for private outings and a four-wheeled coach for formal occasions. That means two coachmen and one or two attendants."
As Ribak went on, the expression on Angel's face slowly froze.
She had removed her wide-brimmed hat after boarding. Her beautiful but vacant face was in plain view, and Ribak immediately noticed something was wrong with his employer. He swallowed the suggestions of a nurse and a tailor, neither of which she needed for now.
But the servants he had already