The question seemed to haunt her and she could not help remembering the gypsy’s words. She was indeed walking down a path that had been prepared for her. And she was certainly reluctant to do so.
Yet at the same time she could not help realising how wonderful it was to be here, to see the great Palazzi, to meet the people who owned them, to feel the warm sunshine on her head as she stepped into the gondola and to be carried swiftly into the labyrinth of small mysterious canals winding through the fabulous City.
Sir Harvey was particularly light-hearted, talking nonsense, paying compliments, contriving to be as gallant as any of the Venetian Noblemen with their exquisite manners and their quick turn of wit.
Paolina began to feel as if she was acting in a strange masque in which everyone
