Chapter 8The ballroom was more fantastic than anything Paolina could possibly have imagined. It was indeed so lovely that it took her breath away.
The huge room, with its windows overlooking the canal, had been transformed literally into a forest of flowers. In Venice of all places, where there were no woods or greenery, the sight of the massed fragrant blossoms was so unexpected that they were a more effective decoration than anything else could have been.
The whole ceiling was covered with camellias, wisteria, orange and cherry blossoms, magnolias and many other perfumed flowers, which occasionally dropped a tiny petal like a snowflake down on the moving throng beneath them.
And the walls were concealed with trunks and entwined stems, with green leaves glittering like emeralds and arr
