It was also expensive in ways Arthur had stopped noticing.

The first morning I arrived, I stood beneath the vaulted entrance ceiling and watched two employees carry boxes toward a storage room.

A manager named Gregory greeted me near the staircase.

He had worked for Arthur for twenty-two years.

His expression suggested he expected me to begin rearranging furniture.

Instead, I asked for the operating budget.

Gregory looked surprised.

“The household budget?”

“All of it.”

He hesitated.