Chapter Thirty-Two“Edgar,” said Caroline, “how is your snake coming along?”
Lydia wondered if it was this receiving line that made her ask. In the past two minutes it had barely crawled. It was also losing its serpentine form. As guests who’d greeted the Pope family emerged into the empty side of the room, many of them didn’t leave, but clustered in conversations—with each other, new arrivals, or friends still waiting in line.
“Oh, well. So much afoot lately, I haven’t gone near it in weeks.”
A memory stirred. “Is that those rocks alongside the magnolia tree?”
Carlo prodded Edgar to explain. “What did Alistair name it?”
“Nidhogg. My gardener turned up a number of nice rocks last year, and I thought, instead of a border or whatnot, why not make a snake? Slithering down the slope from t
