Concetta Genio

It was only when Concetta came to be her housekeeper that Daphne felt the future of the house was secure. 'I didn't feel so lonely about it all,' she confesses.

Concetta was the wife of Daphne's then gardener, Peppino Cundari.

'I'd have taken her for her smile alone but I didn't realise I was going to get one of the most capable people at anything she turns her hand to.

And she's barely literate because the fascists didn't educate girls.'

The Cundari family when they first came to Casa Cuseni.

Concetta & Peppino with Nino and Mimma