AC dBooks

It consisted in calling me Margaret Mary after our patron saint of the
Sacred Heart, in taking me round the garden during recreation as if I
had been a pet poodle, and, above all, in making my bed the scene of the
conversaziones which some of the girls held at night when they were
supposed to be asleep.
The secrecy of these gatherings flattered me, and when the unclouded
moon, in the depths of the deep blue Italian sky, looked in on my group
of girls in their nightdresses, bunched together on my bed, with my own
little body between, I had a feeling of dignity as well as solemnity and
awe.
Of course Alma was the chief spokeswoman at these whispered
conferences. Sometimes she told us of her drives into the Borghese
Gardens, where she saw the King and Queen, or to the Hunt on the
Campagna, where she met the flower of the aristocracy, or to the Pincio,
where the Municipal band played in the pavilion, while ladies sat in
their carriages in the sunshine, and officers in blue cloaks saluted
them and smiled.


Pages:
99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123