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attention.
    Immediately a new group of possible buyers commented about the pieces of furniture that resembled what French king Louis the Fourteenth might have used to furnish the palace at Versailles. Classical Baroque was impressive . . . over the top . . . dramatic. The style had begun to flourish around 1600 in Italy and then spread to most of Europe. The Versailles palace was one of the best examples.
    A couple stopped and studied a foyer table with a rectangular top that rested on four cabriole legs. A carved flower basket was a centerpiece that connected thematically with the legs, and a gilded Capetian mirror hung above the table. The grouping gave the guests who entered the house a preview of what they were about to experience.
    Most of the pieces of furniture belonged to Eliza. Caprice had just thinned them to make the rooms look posh and elaborate but not overcrowded. The two-drawer chest, the coffee table and side tables, the heavily carved and decorated armoires—all were quality pieces. For Eliza’s penchant for purple, Caprice had substituted rich jewel tones in cranberry, hunter green, sapphire blue, and deep gold. In the bedrooms, tufted headboards and Louis the Fourteenth gold-leafed chairs looked as if they belonged. Caprice’s furniture and color choices presented the house in magnificent splendor. She had made some rooms look bigger, others warmer.
    “Those sconces you added to the upstairs hall this morning fit in perfectly. I’d buy them if I weren’t hoping to move.”
    The hall had been a little dark, and while Caprice had no intention of lighting real candles in the sconce cups, flameless tea candles gave the illusion of flickering light.
    “I know what I’m doing most of the time,” Caprice said with a laugh, but her quip seemed to go over Eliza’s head. “I still can’t believe Bob left us hanging like that last Sunday. A quick call to apologize midweek, saying that he’d had to go out of town and he’d adjust his bill accordingly wasn’t much explanation.”
    Caprice had switched to plan B and phoned Monty Culp, and he’d finished the job for them Monday. Bob’s call after the fact with an apology hadn’t been enlightening at all.
    “Thank goodness your painter could take away Bob’s tarps, pans, and brushes,” Eliza said, wrinkling her nose at the idea of the house hunters seeing them.
    Monty had assured Caprice he could stow it all in his garage. Bob was supposed to pick everything up tomorrow.
    She thought about the fact that Bella was supposed to meet Bob tonight at the community center. Would he show up for that?
    Eliza glanced toward the large dining room, with its humongous table and ornate, high-backed chairs. “Nikki’s food smells wonderful. I’m sure some of our guests came just for that.”
    Soon some of the open house guests would be sitting at that table, imagining themselves in this house as they sampled Nikki’s food. Her sister had built a reputation as carefully as Caprice. But when they’d teamed up, her catering business had garnered considerable notice. The wealthy in the surrounding area often hired her to cater lobster and bison dinners, as well as wedding receptions.
    “I sampled the cassoulet,” Eliza said to Caprice. “It’s mouth-watering. In fact, I think I’m going to snitch some with one of the baguettes and hibernate in my home office. I can close off that room, don’t you think?”
    “You might have someone knock.”
    “If someone who wants to buy peeks in, I won’t care. But maybe I can get some work done.”
    At these open houses, Caprice’s job was to oversee everything that was going on. After a few more words with Eliza, she decided to check on Nikki.
    The kitchen was as elaborately baroque as the rest of the house. Everything about Eliza and her house shouted glamour, which was the exact impression she was going for. Most people would think the kitchen was the last place one could employ baroque design, but metallic glass