By the time I reached the fountain in the town square, I regained control of my emotions. I washed my face in the fountain, dried it with my ragged apron, and continued on into Capulet territory. Everything went smoothly until I turned a corner and came upon Tybalt Capulet. He was in the process of slowly throttling a Montague. Before I could stop myself, I shrieked in horror. Startled by the noise, Tybalt loosened his grip on the unfortunate Montague. In a flash, the Montague wrenched free of Tybalt and fled down the street as fast as his legs could take him. It took Tybalt a few moments to realize what had just happened. By the time he did, I had followed the Montague servant’s example and was fleeing down the street in the opposite direction, towards the Capulet house. Tybalt gave a cry of rage and began chasing after me. I didn’t look back, but I could hear him muttering curses as he drew closer. He was gaining on me. I kept on running, praying--I think I might have been screaming--as everything went by in a blur. Suddenly I was at the doors to the Capulet mansion, banging on them with enough force to wake the dead: “Let me in! Let me in! Let me in!”

“Who is it?” came the voice from the other side.

“Elena Carafa!” I panted. “The new nurse!”

I felt Tybalt’s rough hand grab my shoulder and wrench me around. “You ragamuffin!” he shouted. “I’ll teach you to interrupt my dealings with the Montagues!” Well, actually, he shouted something far less complimentary, but that’s beside the point. He raised his fist to strike me--and the doors to the Capulet home opened, revealing a startled Lady Capulet and the doorman.

“Tybalt!” shrilled Lady Capulet. “Unhand that girl at once!”

Cowed, Tybalt gazed at Lady Capulet, looking as if his mind had ceased to function during the chase and was now slowly returning. He shoved me away. Gasping like a fish, I put as much distance between us as possible.

“Really, the way you go about chasing women is an absolute disgrace,” scolded Lady Capulet.

Tybalt let out a sound of contempt. “If you think I’m attracted to this--this ragged harpy, you are much mistaken. She helped a foul Montague to escape his just punishment!”

Lady Capulet crossed her arms and scowled at her nephew. “This ‘ragged harpy’ is Juliet’s new nurse. Try to conduct yourself with a little more decorum towards her in the future.”

“She helped a Montague dog escape!” Tybalt repeated sullenly. “You might want to reconsider your choices in servants, Madam.”

“Don’t speak to me in that tone, boy,” Lady Capulet said. She scrutinized me suspiciously. “Is this true?”

“In a sense, my Lady,” I panted, struggling to keep all emotion from my voice. “I stumbled upon him while he was attempting to dispatch one of the Montagues, and it startled him. The Montague got away.”

I was too busy catching my breath to pay attention while Lady Capulet finished scolding Tybalt for chasing women and sullying the Capulet family’s reputation. Apparently skirt-chasing is much worse than murdering your neighbors in the world of the Capulets. As my mother pointed out, these people are far from logical. By the time Lady Capulet’s tirade had ended, a small crowd had gathered on the street, watching us. The news would be all over Verona by nightfall. I hoped my mother wouldn’t worry too much.

“Come inside,” Lady Capulet commanded. “Tybalt, the men are in the garden. I suggest you join them.”

We followed her inside, and Tybalt disappeared down a long hallway, much to my relief. I wanted to run home as fast as my legs would take me, away from these bloodthirsty lunatics, but my legs were too wobbly.

“Follow me,” Lady Capulet said, leading me down another passage. I followed her obediently. Fortunately, she took small, mincing steps, so it was easy for me to keep up. It was strangely quiet in the house. All the hustle and bustle of life outside were somehow silenced. “I shall send some clothes more suitable to a member of the Capulet household up to your room after you meet Juliet,” Lady Capulet added. She led me out into a lovely courtyard garden at the back of the house. “Juliet!” she called. “Come and greet your new nurse!”

Juliet Capulet emerged from behind a rosebush. She was lovely, with a perfectly fair complexion, a shower of truly golden hair, and bright, childlike brown eyes that reminded me of my little brother Lorenzo. I felt more tattered than ever, confronted with such a vision of wealth and beauty, but I smiled and curtsied.

Juliet broke into a dutiful smile. “Good morrow, Nurse,” she said.

“I’ll leave you two to get acquainted, then” Lady Capulet said. “I have much to do.”

Juliet’s eyes followed her out of the garden, and then she turned her gaze to me, her brow furrowed in curiosity. “You don’t look anything like my old nurse.”

“ What do you mean?” I asked, for I had never met the old nurse.

“You’re much younger and a great deal thinner than she is,” she answered, laughing. “How old are you? And what’s your name?”

“Elena Carafa,” I replied, uncertain as to whether I should curtsey or not. “I’m eighteen.”

“So you’re five years older than I am,” Juliet said, folding her arms and tilting her chin up haughtily. “I’m not certain you’re old enough to be my nurse.”

“Your parents think I am,” I replied evenly.

“Do they know how old you are?” she asked.

“ Yes,” I replied. “What was your old nurse like? Were you fond of her?”

“She was bossy, and crass, and perhaps a little crazy,” Juliet replied, sitting down on the bench in front of the rosebush. “But I was fond of her all the same. She was…more of a mother to me than my own mother. I thought she loved me like her own daughter, but I was wrong, I guess.”

I shifted my feet uncertainly. “I’m sorry.”

“That’s really your job, you see,” she said, her mouth twisting up in a bitter grin. “To be my mother. To look out for me, and listen to me. Mother’s too busy. The only difference is that I can give you orders. More often than not, my old nurse ignored them and did as she pleased--but I’m not going to let you get away with that sort of thing.”

“I suppose that’s reasonable” I said. “Neither you nor Lady Capulet seem to be the kind of person to put up with insolence, but if I’m going to be effective at all you must listen to me at least sometimes. To be honest, though, I don’t have much experience in being a mother or a nurse.”

Juliet’s eyes widened. “Wow, my parents must have been really desperate.”

“Thanks,” I said with a sigh.

“What happened to you that made you seek work?” Juliet asked. “Did your husband die?”

I laughed mirthlessly. “No. I’ve never been married.”

“Oh?” she said. “Why?”

“Because no man ever asked me to marry him,” I replied. I didn’t really want to tell her my whole pathetic history-- I felt somewhat ashamed of it, though neither I nor my family was really at fault. On the other hand, if I did tell her, I might come closer to gaining her trust. I drew a deep breath, inhaling the heady scent of the fall garden, and began. “Once I was very much like you. Then my family’s fortunes fell. My father is ill and my brothers are children. If I don’t provide for them, no one will.”

“Oh,” she said, her pretty face looking rather blank, unable to comprehend things like poverty and starvation. As I was soon to find out, her every need and wish was granted almost before it was asked.

“Is it true that Tybalt was chasing you?” she asked. “It’s not like him to chase women.”

“He was trying to kill me,” I said, shuddering at the thought of Tybalt being attracted to me. “I inadvertently helped a Montague escape.”

“That would definitely displease him,” Juliet agreed. “He has a terrible temper.”

“That’s a bit of an understatement,” I said.

She sighed. “I suppose I should be a bit more alarmed, but he tries to kill people so often, you see.”

“How often does he succeed?” I asked.

“More often than Prince Escalus would like,” she replied vaguely.

I am going to die, I thought.

Deciding to change the subject, Juliet said “I’ll show you to your room.”

My room was on the second floor, adjacent to Juliet’s. Of course, mine was much smaller than hers, just large enough for a bed-- a real feather bed,-- and a chest to put my belongings in. It was more like a glorified closet, but it was a vast improvement over sleeping in a drafty alcove with three little boys.

“Nurse!” Juliet called.

I deposited my sack of belongings on the bed and hastened down the hallway into her room. Juliet was standing in the middle of the room, grinning, her arms full of dresses. “Mother had the maid bring up some of her old dresses for you to wear,” she said, dropping them onto her bed.

“For me?” I repeated, coming over to where she was.

“Well, you can’t escort me about Verona in those rags,” Juliet said. “The Capulets have a reputation to uphold.”
Eagerly, she went through the dresses. “Oh, look at this one,” Juliet gushed, holding up a wine-colored dress “Mother hasn’t worn this in ages-- I’ve always loved it.”

“Why don’t you wear it, then?” I asked.

“Oh, I couldn’t! It would be a terrible scandal-- the Capulets’ daughter wearing hand-me-down! No, that wouldn’t be good at all,” Juliet said, looking horrified at the idea. “Besides, this sort of dress is out of style now. High-waisted gowns are the current fashion.” Fashion, it seemed, was one of Juliet’s areas of expertise.

“I wonder why,” I said. “I always thought they made women look childish.” Inwardly, though, I was staggered. I hadn’t had a new dress in four years, and suddenly I had four new dresses. One for each year I’d lost.

“Perhaps the older women like the high waists because it makes them look younger,” Juliet said. “But don’t worry about this one being out of fashion--it will look lovely on you, with your dark hair. You can wear almost any color.”

I shrugged. “Well, anyone can wear anything. Whether they should or not is another matter entirely.”

Juliet laughed. The laugh reminded me more than ever of Lorenzo. He was too young to know what it meant to worry, and Juliet had never needed to worry. She continued holding up the old-fashioned dresses, with the ordinary waist instead of the now-fashionable high waist. “This one is for everyday-- staying around the house and running errands-- this one is for parties and church-- and oh! This one is for only the most important occasions!”

“What sort of occasions?” I asked, suddenly understanding the true reason for the dresses beyond mere appearances. Almost all of them were red, the color of the house of Capulet. The Montagues wore blue. The Capulets were marking me as one of their own, at least on the outside.

Juliet shrugged happily. “Oh, weddings and betrothals, meeting Prince Escalus, impressing suitors, that sort of thing. Would you like to have a suitor, Nurse?”

“It depends on who the suitor is,” I replied. “Sometimes suitors are more trouble than they’re worth.”

“I’d love to be like Rosaline,” Juliet said. “She has lots of suitors. I think every single man in town has been in love with her at some time or another.”

“Even Tybalt?” I asked incredulously. I’d known Tybalt for a long time, mostly from a safe distance, and it seemed impossible that he could love anybody.

“Especially Tybalt,” Juliet replied, giggling. “I think she likes him best of all, but she never gives him any hint of that. She’s quite sophisticated and elegant. Speaking of elegance, take one of the everyday gowns-- the brown and white one will do-- and go change and put up your hair. Those rags make me depressed.”

She nodded approvingly a few moments later when I returned. “That’s much better! Now you look more like a nurse and less like a waif.”

“Oh, preserve me!” I exclaimed. “I’d rather look like a young waif than a well-dressed old lady.”

“Oh, go on,” she replied. “That’s not what I meant at all. You just look suitable now. Now come, I’ve got some letters I want to dictate.”