screaming.
“But why did she scream?” His father’s voice came rapid, intimate, yet the answer eluded him. In reality he had never dared to ask that question.
“But was she the bride Carlo refused? Is that it? Was she the one Carlo would not marry? And why? Why? Did she love him? And was she then married to a man so old….”
He awoke with a start. And in the warm damp felt a shudder. Ah, no, he thought, never, never again mention it to her. And sliding into dream again he saw his brother’s face rising slowly to the surface of that picture.
15
A NGELO AND B EPPO were confused; Lena was fussing with his mother’s dress though she said over and over, “Lena, I’m wearing a domino, no one will even see it!”
Alessandro, however, was coolly in charge. Why didn’t Angelo and Beppo go out and enjoy themselves? It took approximately five seconds for them to bow, to nod, and to vanish.
The piazza was now so crowded they could scarce move. Trestle stages had risen everywhere with jugglers, mimes, wild animals snarling in their cages as tamers cracked the whip. Acrobats somersaulted over the heads of the throng, the wind bringing warm rain that dampened no one.
It seemed to Tonio that over and over again they were caught in a living stream that forced them towards the jampacked cafés or thrust them out from under the porticoes; they gulped brandy and coffee here and there; sometimes they flopped at a table, just long enough to rest, their voices sounding strange to them piping up from their masks.
Meanwhile the extravagant maskers were cropping up everywhere. Spaniards, Gypsies, Indians from the wilds of North America, beggars in tatters of velvet, young men got up to be women with painted faces and lofty wigs, and women turned out as men, their lovely little bodies inexpressibly enticing in silk breeches and close-fitting stockings.
It seemed there was so much to do, they could make up their minds to none of it. Marianna wanted her fortune told but would not stand in line at the fortuneteller’s table where thewoman whispered secrets through a long tube right into the victim’s ear so no one need share the revelation of his destiny. More wild beasts; the roar of the lions was thrilling. A woman snatched Tonio by the waist, turned him twice, three times in a wild dance, and then let him go; it was impossible to tell if she was a scullery maid or a visiting princess. He fell back at one point against the pillars of the church, his mind swept clean of all thought as it had seldom been in his life, and let the crowd merge into a magnificent spectacle of color. The commedia was being enacted on a distant stage, the actors’ cries piercing the din, and quite suddenly he wanted to dissolve and rest in the quiet of the palazzo.
Then he felt Marianna’s hand slip out of his, and turning he could not find her.
He glanced back and forth. Where was Alessandro?
It seemed a tall figure straight ahead must surely be he, but the figure was moving away from him. He gave a loud shout, and couldn’t even hear it himself; and glancing back saw a little figure in bauta and domino in the arms of another masker. It seemed they kissed, or whispered to one another, the stranger’s mantle concealing both their faces. “Mamma.” He went towards the tiny one, and the crowd intervened before he could reach her.
Then he heard Alessandro behind him. “Tonio!” He had been saying the proper address, Excellency, over and over and getting no answer.
“Ah, she’s disappeared!” Tonio said desperately.
“She’s right there,” came Alessandro’s reply, and again there was a little figure, bird-faced, eerie, peering right at him.
He tore off his mask, wiping at the sweat of his face, and closed his eyes for a moment.
They did not go home until two hours before they were to be at the theater. Marianna let down her long black hair and stood with her glassy eyes to the side as if enchanted. Then seeing the serious expression on
“But why did she scream?” His father’s voice came rapid, intimate, yet the answer eluded him. In reality he had never dared to ask that question.
“But was she the bride Carlo refused? Is that it? Was she the one Carlo would not marry? And why? Why? Did she love him? And was she then married to a man so old….”
He awoke with a start. And in the warm damp felt a shudder. Ah, no, he thought, never, never again mention it to her. And sliding into dream again he saw his brother’s face rising slowly to the surface of that picture.
15
A NGELO AND B EPPO were confused; Lena was fussing with his mother’s dress though she said over and over, “Lena, I’m wearing a domino, no one will even see it!”
Alessandro, however, was coolly in charge. Why didn’t Angelo and Beppo go out and enjoy themselves? It took approximately five seconds for them to bow, to nod, and to vanish.
The piazza was now so crowded they could scarce move. Trestle stages had risen everywhere with jugglers, mimes, wild animals snarling in their cages as tamers cracked the whip. Acrobats somersaulted over the heads of the throng, the wind bringing warm rain that dampened no one.
It seemed to Tonio that over and over again they were caught in a living stream that forced them towards the jampacked cafés or thrust them out from under the porticoes; they gulped brandy and coffee here and there; sometimes they flopped at a table, just long enough to rest, their voices sounding strange to them piping up from their masks.
Meanwhile the extravagant maskers were cropping up everywhere. Spaniards, Gypsies, Indians from the wilds of North America, beggars in tatters of velvet, young men got up to be women with painted faces and lofty wigs, and women turned out as men, their lovely little bodies inexpressibly enticing in silk breeches and close-fitting stockings.
It seemed there was so much to do, they could make up their minds to none of it. Marianna wanted her fortune told but would not stand in line at the fortuneteller’s table where thewoman whispered secrets through a long tube right into the victim’s ear so no one need share the revelation of his destiny. More wild beasts; the roar of the lions was thrilling. A woman snatched Tonio by the waist, turned him twice, three times in a wild dance, and then let him go; it was impossible to tell if she was a scullery maid or a visiting princess. He fell back at one point against the pillars of the church, his mind swept clean of all thought as it had seldom been in his life, and let the crowd merge into a magnificent spectacle of color. The commedia was being enacted on a distant stage, the actors’ cries piercing the din, and quite suddenly he wanted to dissolve and rest in the quiet of the palazzo.
Then he felt Marianna’s hand slip out of his, and turning he could not find her.
He glanced back and forth. Where was Alessandro?
It seemed a tall figure straight ahead must surely be he, but the figure was moving away from him. He gave a loud shout, and couldn’t even hear it himself; and glancing back saw a little figure in bauta and domino in the arms of another masker. It seemed they kissed, or whispered to one another, the stranger’s mantle concealing both their faces. “Mamma.” He went towards the tiny one, and the crowd intervened before he could reach her.
Then he heard Alessandro behind him. “Tonio!” He had been saying the proper address, Excellency, over and over and getting no answer.
“Ah, she’s disappeared!” Tonio said desperately.
“She’s right there,” came Alessandro’s reply, and again there was a little figure, bird-faced, eerie, peering right at him.
He tore off his mask, wiping at the sweat of his face, and closed his eyes for a moment.
They did not go home until two hours before they were to be at the theater. Marianna let down her long black hair and stood with her glassy eyes to the side as if enchanted. Then seeing the serious expression on
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