him?

At last nine o'clock struck; Rodolphe could get into a carriage and say
with an emotion that is very intelligible, "To the Villa Jeanrenaud--to
Prince Gandolphini's."

At last he saw Francesca, but without being seen by her. The Princess
was standing quite near the piano. Her beautiful hair, so thick and
long, was bound with a golden fillet. Her face, in the light of wax
candles, had the brilliant pallor peculiar to Italians, and which
looks its best only by artificial light. She was in full evening dress,
showing her fascinating shoulders, the figure of a girl and the arms of
an antique statue. Her sublime beauty was beyond all possible rivalry,
though there were some charming women of Geneva, and other Italians,
among them the dazzling and illustrious Princess Varese, and the famous
singer Tinti, who was at that moment singing.

Rodolphe, leaning against the door-post, looked at the Princess, turning
on her the fixed, tenacious, attracting gaze, charged with the full,
insistent will which is concentrated in the feeling called desire, and
thus assumes the nature of a vehement command. Did the flame of that
gaze reach Francesca? Was Francesca expecting each instant to see
Rodolphe? In a few minutes she stole a glance at the door, as though
magnetized by this current of love, and her eyes, without reserve,
looked deep into Rodolphe's. A slight thrill quivered through that
superb face and beautiful body; the shock to her spirit reacted:
Francesca blushed! Rodolphe felt a whole life in this exchange of looks,
so swift that it can only be compared to a lightning flash. But to what
could his happiness compare? He was loved. The lofty Princess, in the
midst of her world, in this handsome villa, kept the pledge given by
the disguised exile, the capricious beauty of Bergmanns' lodgings. The
intoxication of such a moment enslaves a man for life! A faint smile,
refined and subtle, candid and triumphant, curled Princess Gandolphini's
lips, and at a moment when she did not feel herself observed she looked
at Rodolphe with an expression which seemed to ask his pardon for having
deceived him as to her rank.

When the song was ended Rodolphe could make his way to the Prince, who
graciously led him to his wife. Rodolphe went through the ceremonial of
a formal introduction to Princess and Prince Colonna, and to Francesca.
When this was over, the Princess had to take part in the famous
quartette, _Mi manca la voce_, which was