Charlotte Lamb Hawk In A Blue Sky (pdf)

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HAWK IN A BLUE SKY LO9
aware of a shadowy sadness in the other girl's pale green
eyes.
The Contessa turned to draw Amanda forward. 'And
this is our dearest Amanda ...'
Magdalen MacDonald smiled slightly and held out a
thin hand. 'How do you do? You're English, aren't
you?'
`Half English,' corrected the Contessa quickly. 'She is
a Druetso, too.'
`Of course,' said Magdalen on a dry note. 'How could
I have forgotten? She's a Druetso.'
Amanda's quick ears picked up the note of wry sar-
casm, and she wondered at it. For some reason Magdalen
did not like her too well, she suspected. They had never
met before. What reason could this girl have for not
liking her?
She shook hands with Hector MacDonald, receiving
an incredulous stare. 'Say, you remind me of ... hey!
She's the image of that picture of yours, isn't she?'
`The Botticelli? But of course,' said the Contessa.
`She is playing the Beatrice in the Pageant,' said Piero,
speaking for the first time. 'I told you, don't you re-
member?' He came forward to kiss Amanda briefly on
the cheek. His eyes met hers only for a second or two.
Was it her own guilty imagination, or did Piero look
angry?
`You told us she was playing Beatrice, but you didn't
tell us to expect such a perfect resemblance,' said Hector
jovially. 'It's quite unbelievable!'
I TO HAWK IN A BLUE SKY
`She is a Druetso, after all,' said Magdalen sardonic-
ally.
Piero gave her a quick look. He was very pale. 'Even
as a little girl Amanda was the image of the portrait,' he
said. 'I remember Cesare used to make her stand beside it
so that he could look at them both together.'
Magdalen stared at Piero. 'Really !' Her voice was still
coldly sarcastic.
`Cesare was obsessed with her,' said Piero.
The Contessa looked at him in pale astonishment.
`Magdalen, my dear,' she broke in hurriedly, 'you will
want to see your room. Teresa will take you and your
father upstairs. You must need to wash after that long
journey.' Conversationally, leading them towards the
stairs with gentle inexorability, she added, 'How was
Florence? As charming and civilised as ever? You must
tell us how the city is looking these days later. I never get
there any more I am too old.'
`Oh, no, Contessa,' Magdalen said softly. 'You are not
too old. You are still awe-inspiring ...'
`Thank you, my dear,' said the Contessa with a little
sigh. 'I do my best.'
When they had reached the top of the stairs Magdalen
looked back at them. Amanda saw how her eyes touched
briefly on Piero's face, then moved away, and a sudden
suspicion flashed into her mind.
Piero said uneasily, 'Well, I had better go up and
freshen myself in my room, too, Amanda mia
`We must talk,' she said.
`Not now,' Piero murmured.
HAWK IN A BLUE SKY III
`As soon as possible,' she said, her suspicions growing
as she realised that he was not meeting her eyes.
She left the hall, needing time alone in which to think,
and slowly wandered down the narrow streets of the city,
pausing here and there to stare at the tiny windows,
crammed with souvenirs and postcards, with offers of
tea or egg and chips for the tourists. From time to time
she exchanged a smile or a greeting with one of the
citizens. The air was warm and scented this evening,
filled with the fragrance of summer. Above the city
soared a sky still deeply blue, cloudless and bright.
Outside Giulio's antique shop she bumped into Tina.
The other girl gave her one of her sullen looks, then said
spitefully, 'So Piero has brought his American girl back
with him? You are not the only Druetso who can have
two strings to their bow, are you?'
Amanda looked back at her quietly. 'You see a lot of
Giulio, don't you?'
Tina flushed. 'So what?'
Amanda shrugged. 'Nothing.'
Tina glared at her and walked away. Amanda carried
on down the hill, her mind racing as she considered the
implications behind Tina's words. Discarding the obvi-
ous spite involved, there was still sufficient evidence to
back up what Tina had said. It would not surprise
Amanda if Piero had had some sort of relationship with
Magdalen MacDonald. It would explain her sarcasm to-
wards his engagement. It would explain why Piero had
been embarrassed. Pehaps, after all, he had not suspected
112 HAWK IN A BLUE SKY
Amanda
and Cesare. He had been feeling guilty himself
because of Magdalen.
There had been that look between them as Magdalen
stood at the top of the stairs. Even at a distance Amanda
had seen the unhappiness and challenge in the other
girl's eyes.
Sighing, she turned and sauntered back up the city. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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