The Ornaments of Love

Chapter Eight

"Father, this is the Marquesa's niece from Madrid, here for the whole summer. She is preparing to be presented at the ball on Friday," Blanca said approvingly, with beaming affection for the young girl.

"Ah! Congratulations, my child. What an exciting time this must be for you," said the priest. He was a striking man with dark sandy hair and grey-blue eyes, all at once so friendly and piercing. "I remember those great galas as a young man, when it was my family's mission to find me a wife just to be rid of my talk of joining the priesthood," he laughed. He was not nearly so old, she thought, to be recollecting his youth as if it was ages ago. He seemed hardly over thirty, his light complexion still very fair.

She thought him to be a rather charming man and wondered what he would have made of himself had he not taken the path to the priesthood. He seemed to have escaped the usual nature that befell the priests of her parish; that old, tired, and charmless manner about them that did not lend itself to gaining invitations to dine out. Rather, this man was entirely agreeable and had set Veronica's anxiety aside for a brief sweet moment.

"It is not something so moving, I should say," Angelica remarked before his laughter subsided. "A party is just that: a party. I don't see why older people think it such an event. Really, what should she expect to happen? That some fairly tale will be staged because she is no longer a child?"

Blanca shot her daughter a venomous look, angry beyond words for possibly having offended the Father.

"You'll have to be patient and forgive Angelica's rash words, Father. She sadly does not yet understand the blessings that marriage holds." She turned to Angelica. "I wonder sometimes, my dear, what are your intentions for your future? Will you remain forever in such a foolish mind? Is it your intention never to have a family of your own? I should think your father would be most interested to know we will have the privilege of providing for you while you waste the rest of your life mastering this mindless cynicism." The woman let a silent rage color her last word. "Really, do you intend to throw away all of your opportunities to sit in smug disapproval of others? At least Veronica has the intelligence to look forward to this time in her life and not take it for granted."

"I fail to see how it would do her any good to think there will be an army of suitors awaiting her entrance, as if she were the prize doll of the season," Angelica lashed back at her mother, incapable of giving ground now that she had been embarrassed so thoroughly.

It was remarkable, Veronica thought, that such a wealth of opportunity could coexist with such an absence of imagination. She seemed oblivious to the dynamics of what the Amontoní name and the Marquesa's graciousness in inviting the Flores family to her house could mean. At this ball, Angelica too would also have the opportunity to be presented before the elite of the country on the tails of its social empress. Surely, even she could see this.

Blanca at once smothered the intended fire of her reprisal, exhaling the frustration that only a daughter could produce in a mother. "I'm sure you know better than that as to the influence that this family has in the city," she answered, calmly. "I know Father Mateu has said many times how the good will of the Marquesa is spoken of throughout Europe. Isn't that right, Father?"

"Yes, the Marquesa has been such a patron of the poor here in Barcelona, as well as a supporter of the Church's charities the country over. The Archbishop himself has remarked to the Holy Pontiff of the generous angel the Church has within these walls. I've told the Marquesa of the blessings the Pontiff has sent upon her. Such a modest woman, she would not even bear to hear her charity praised, even by the Holy Father himself. Indeed, she is such a noble woman."

It fascinated and confused Veronica that her aunt was thought as such a holy woman by this priest, and even by the Holy Father. If this man only knew half of what the girl had only just become aware of!