Free Dark Shimmer by Donna Jo Napoli Page B

blink. “I can’t figure it out, and I’m fifteen.”
    “Exactly. You’re fifteen, Dolce. Do you want to be seen as a child, who shares a room with a man’s daughter? Or do you want to be seen as a woman, who shares a room with his sister? How do you think Marin wants to see you?”
    Bianca squeezes my hand, but keeps her eyes on Agnola. “You should have said that sooner, Aunt Agnola.”
    “We’re eating at the Ghisi palace this morning.” Agnola folds her hands across her belly. “Dolce’s finally going to meet a few people.”
    “What’s to become of me?”
    “Antonin is taking you to the Contarinis’. You can play there.”
    “But who will take care of me there? Isn’t the mamma going to the Ghisi palace to meet Princess Dolce?”
    “No. And I already told you, please stop calling her princess.”
    “She is a princess.”
    “Not outside this palace, she isn’t. If you keep it up, Bianca, you’re going to slip and call her princess in front of people and then everyone will have questions that make her look like a liar—they won’t understand. So stop it. Don’t ever call her princess.”
    “Sorry. I’m sorry. I won’t do it again. But why isn’t the Contarini mamma going today? She goes to every party.”
    “Your father is one of the most eligible bachelors of Venezia. And Signora Contarini has a passel of daughters, the oldest of which is only a year younger than Dolce. She might block Dolce’s acceptance here. No one wants extra rivals.”
    “Rivals?”
    “For your papà. He’s a catch, don’t you think?”
    “Oh.” Bianca stands tall. She clasps her hands in front of her chest and looks me up and down. “You’re better than the Contarini girls, on the outside and on the inside. Papà knows that.”
    “We have to leave,” says Agnola. “Practice the harp until Antonin comes back for you.”
    “I’m too young for these lessons. That’s what Signora Contarini says.”
    “That’s because she’s judging by her own daughters. You’re smarter.”
    Bianca protrudes her lips in thought for a moment.
    “Find what pleases your ear.” Agnola ushers me out of the room and down to the dock, where Antonin waits with our gondola.
    We climb in and the boat rocks. I sit quickly, thinking that there might be more to this game than I realized. I clutch at Agnola’s skirt. “What if I’m judged poorly?”
    Agnola’s face goes soft and sweet. She links arms with me. “Well…it will matter to Marin, and to you. Because if he marries you and they decide to exclude you, Bianca will be left out. No more playing with the Contarini girls, that’s for sure. But Marin can provide a heavy dowry for her someday. She will definitely marry. Still, but that won’t make up for the years of loneliness as she grows.”
    “Years of loneliness as she grows,” I say. I shiver and stare at Agnola.
    She nods. She names each splendid palace along the canal and tells me about the families within, pausing often so I can repeat their names.
Lord, let me learn quickly.

A gnola has walked me around, introducing me to every group of women and girls. They ask the same questions and I give the same answers.
    “Where are you visiting from?”
    “Not far.”
    “How do you know the Cornaro family?”
    I smile slyly. “Better all the time.”
    “But how did you come to know them in the first place?”
    “We met on the island of the brothers—San Francesco del Deserto.”
    “What were you doing there?”
    “Retreats don’t lend themselves to conversation.”
    “But, come now, tell us a little about yourself, won’t you? What’s your family name?”
    We had no family names on Torcello. That’s what startled Marin when he introduced me to his household: he realized in that moment that he didn’t know my family name. Agnola has prepared me for this question, of course. “Speaking of the dead saddens me.” Which is true. This question makes Mamma linger in the back of my mind. I miss her more as time