The Silent Duchess

XIII

Carlo is the only one who notices her distress, but he is too involved in the row to get up. He confines himself to looking at her compassionately, yet also quite bewildered, because her soundless sobs are like shafts of lightning without thunder, something flawed and incomplete. XIII Part of the yellow room has been cleared to make way for a gigantic Nativity crib. The estate carpenters have worked for two days erecting a mountain that compares with Monte Catalfano. In the distance a volcano can be seen with its outline painted in white. In the centre of the volcano is a plume of smoke made out of feathers sewn together; below it is a valley of terracotta trees with leaves of green cloth, and below that the sea made from layers of silk. Felice and Giuseppa are sitting on the carpet, intent on usmg some paper plumes splattered with green paint to edge a small lake made out of mirrors. Manina stands against the wall, watching them. Mariano is busy eating a biscuit, smearing it all over his mouth and cheeks. Fila is next to him; she should be setting out the little figures of shepherds on the meadow of bottle-green wool, but she is so enraptured by this splendid Nativity crib that she has forgotten. Innocenza is standing near the stable, giving some last additional touches to the manger, out of which stick tufts of real straw. Signoretto, the baby, sleeps in Marianna's arms. She has wrapped him in her Spanish shawl and rocks him quietly to and fro against her breast. At last the lake is finished but instead of reflecting the blue of the paper pasted behind the stable, it mirrors the cautious eyes of a chimera, peeping out from between the foliage on the ceiling. Innocenza gently places the baby Jesus with his heavy wax halo on the straw. Next to him the kneeling Virgin Mary has been draped with a turquoise mantle, covering her head and shoulders. Saint Joseph wears breeches of sheepskin and a wide-brimmed brown hat. The ox is as large as an elephant and as gnarled as a toad, and the ass with its long pink ears looks more like a rabbit. 67 Mariano, who has just had his seventh birthday, sets off in the direction of the flower-decked basket, in which some small figures are still lying. With his hand all sticky with sugar he pulls out one of the three kings, whose turban is studded with real precious stones. Suddenly Giuseppa jumps on top of him and snatches the figure out of his hands. He loses his balance and falls down, but he does not give up. He turns to plunge his hands into the basket again and pulls out another king, whose cloak glitters with gold. This time it is Felice who rushes towards her brother to take the precious little statue from him, but he won't let go. The two of them fall on to the carpet, he kicking and she biting. Giuseppa runs to help her sister and they both jump on top of him, pounding him with blows. Marianna leaps up, holding the baby, and dashes across to the three of them, but Innocenza gets there first and seizes hold of them by their arms and hair. The figure of the king lies shattered on the floor. Manina watches them. She is upset and she goes to her brother and hugs him and kisses his cheek, which is wet with tears. Then she quickly seizes her sisters by the hands and pulls them close to her to kiss them as well. That child is a really talented peace-maker, Marianna says to herself. Even more than playing and eating, she loves creating harmony. Then, to distract her two sisters from the quarrel, she fills her cheeks and blows on to the crib so as to flutter the Madonna's cloak, lift up the Infant Christ's dress and blow Saint Joseph's beard to one side. Felice and Giuseppa burst out laughing. And Mariano, his hand still clutching half of the little statue, laughs too. Even Innocenza laughs at the breeze that ruffles the cloth palm trees and sends the shepherds' hair flying up in the air. Giuseppa has an idea - why not dress Manina up as an angel? She already has the head of golden curls, the round gentle face, the large eyes reverently lowered, that make her fit...