"No no," said Maulear, who remembered what Taddeo had said to him in
relation to his sister, "I will fight for her I love at the very foot of
the altar--"

"Signor," said Monte-Leone, "let us avoid all scandal. The death of him
who falls may be easily accounted for; and as you said, we must never
suffer her we love to think that the happiness of one of us has cost the
other his life."

"So be it," said Maulear, "I accept your offer."

"To-morrow we will meet," said the Count.

The two enemies returned to the villa calm, and apparently undisturbed,
as if they had been the best friends possible. When they came into the
room again, Aminta sat by her mother. The eyes of the young girl,
however, turning constantly towards the door, seemed to expect the
return of the two young men with anxiety. Her cheeks became slightly
flushed when they entered. The Count approached her and besought her to
sing as he had often heard her. Aminta sat at the piano. Scarcely,
however, had she sung the first bar, than the door of the saloon opened
and Scorpione glided in and sat at the feet of the young girl, where he
laid down as he used to do; not, however, daring to look at her. Since
the scandal he had caused, he had been in disgrace with all the family,
and his mistress did not speak to him. The Count, who had become
acquainted with Tonio during his first visit to Sorrento, could not
repress a movement of horror at the appearance of the wretch. Far,
however, from being angry, Tonio seemed glad to see him, and testified
his pleasure by various affectionate signs. Gaetano, who was absent from
the room, just then returned, and at the request of Signora Rovero sang
several duets with Aminta. An extraordinary feeling seemed to influence
the young man, and only with the greatest difficulty could he get
through his part. When the evening was over, all retired. The next day
rolled by in embarrassing constraint to all the inhabitants of the
villa. An atmosphere of sadness surrounded them, like the dark clouds
which seem at the approach of a storm to overhang the earth. Count
Monte-Leone alone seemed master of himself, and sought to cure the
general _atony_ in which even Maulear was involved. A sensible
difference was remarked between the two men, each of whom loved the same
woman, while one of them must lose her forever. The Count did not take
his eyes from her, and seemed thus to lay in a provision of pleasure for
eternity, which seemed rea