Falconieri di Carpegna, she had always led a rather withdrawn life. Her greatest joy was being able to do good, pleasures to others, and the more boring and uncomfortable they were, the greater her joy seemed.
Aunt Laura had told me a funny anecdote that happened to her husband's aunt. While waiting for lunch in his palace in Rome, a cardinal friend of the family had arranged for the usual welcome. But the cardinal's carriage arrived early and in front of the door the red carpet had not yet been unrolled, nor were the waiters with lighted torches on the threshold to receive it. In fact, there weren't even waiters, they were still in the service wing wearing their liveries. "Oh, Eminence, you really don't know how to do your job!" Aunt Maria had scolded him with a smile. A few weeks later the pope died. After the conclave, Aunt Maria - she had the right to a private audience, since she belonged to the Black Nobility - went to pay homage to the new pontiff. As soon as he saw her enter, Pius X went to meet her: "Oh, my dear Countess," he said, disconsolately spreading his arms, "she who rightly pointed out to me that I didn't even know how to be a cardinal, tell me how I'll do it now that I have even been forced to be Pope?" At our house there were various photographs with a dedication by Pius X - who later became a saint - because he had given first communion and confirmation to my father and aunt Emma.
Aunt Emma had been very beautiful and had had several suitors but, incurably romantic, she always ended up despising them all because they were not "spiritually elevated enough."
My two aunts both had a keen artistic sense. Aunt Laura was a good watercolorist and, like Aunt Emma, she knew how to create very beautiful ornamental objects with almost nothing. When they found themselves in Rome - divided by the German-occupied North - Aunt Emma had perfected her creations of jewels, handbags,...
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