Song Above the Clouds by Rosemary Pollock Read Free Book Online Page A

And in the shadows on the far side of the courtyard the, nun escorting Candy came to a halt beside a narrow door. She knocked, and then almost, immediately turned the handle and gestured to Candy to go in ahead of her.
    The English girl found herself in a small, square, white-walled room, very plainly and sparsely furnished. Against the wall there stood a black oak bookcase filled with books and a prie- di e u with a simple crucifix above it, and in the middle of the room, under the central light, there was an enormous and very tidy deal desk. Two women were sitting facing one another across the desk—one a nun in immaculate white, the other a slim, black-haired girl in the dress of fashionable modern Rome .
    T he nun who had accompanied Candy said something quietly, and her fellow behind the desk looked up and smiled.
    “Ah! We are expecting you, sig nor ina. What is your name?”
    Candy told her, and her expression changed .
    “You are Candida Wells?”
    “Yes.”
    The nun’s rather humorous mouth curved into a wry smile, and she looked across at the young woman sitting opposite her.
    “What a coincidence!” she remarked in English. “But there has been a mistake, I think. We were not expecting you until to-morrow, Signorina Wells. It was tomorrow, was it not?” And she looked again at her companion from the outside world, who had risen to her feet, and was studying Candy with interest.
    “Yes, Sister, I thought it was to-morrow. But this must be my fault . ” The young woman’s voice was as soft and gentle as the voices of the nuns, and she had the same air of detachment from the rough-and-tumble of the world, but when she turned round Candy realized that she w as n’t quite as young as she had seemed at first. There was something about her that at first glance gave an impression of extreme y o uth, but a closer look at her serious dark eyes and neat features told Candy that she was probably about thirty. She made a small, very Latin gesture with one well-manicured hand, and smiled apologetically.
    “I thought you would be here on the ninth, but it must have been the eighth. I often make such mistakes. I am very sorry.”
    She looked intensely worried, and Candy, already tired and bewildered, felt uncomfortable as well. The nun behind the desk intervened.
    “Signorina Marchetti arranged for you to stay with us, Miss Wells, but unfortunately there seems to have been a little confusion. We were not expecting you until to-morrow, but, as you say in England, no harm has been done.” She smiled reassuringly at Candy. “Our guest-house is really full, but we shall accommodate you.” She didn’t look worried, but Candy had a feeling that she might have added ‘somehow’. Signorina Marchetti leant towards her across the desk, and said somethi n g quietly and urgently. The two women talked in Italian for about a minute, and then the nun spoke to Candy again.
    “The Signorina suggests that you stay with her to-night. She has a most charming flat not far from here, and with her”—she shrugged and smiled—“you will be much more comfortable than you would be in our guest-house. But you m ust tell me what you would like to do.”
    Candy felt more bewildered than ever. Although they were careful hot to betray the fact, it was obvious that if she stayed with the nuns she would definitely be putting them to some sort of inconvenience. But on the other hand it seemed a bit much that this strange Italian woman should be expected to entertain her— even though she was, presumably, some sort of agent of Signor Maruga.
    “It’s very kind of you...” She looked at Signorina Marchetti, and hesitated. “If you’re sure it’s not too much trouble?”
    “To me it is no trouble.” The other woman spoke almost eagerly. “I shall be most happy if you will agree to stay with me—for to-night at least. Your trunks ... they are here?”
    Candy nodded a little wryly, thinking of her three small cases reposing in the