did not see meanwhile that Kitty had made a hurried movement, and
was now leaning over the side of the gondola, peering with arrested
breath into the scattered group of boats on their left hand. The
search-light flashed here and there among them. A gondola at the very
edge of the serenata contained one figure beside the gondolier, a man in
a large cloak and slouch hat, sitting very still with folded arms. As
Kitty looked, hearing the beating of her heart, their own boat was
suddenly lit up. The light passed in a second, and while it lasted those
in the flash could see nothing outside it. When it withdrew all was in
darkness. The black mass of boats floated on, soundless again, save for
an occasional plash of water or the hoarse cry of a gondolier--and in
the distance the wail for Eurydice.

Kitty fell back in her seat. An excitement, from which she shrank in a
kind of terror, possessed her. Her thoughts were wholly absorbed by the
gondola and the figure she could no longer distinguish--for which,
whenever a group of lamps threw their reflections on the water, she
searched the canal in vain. If what she madly dreamed were true, had she
herself been seen--and recognized?

The serenata in honor of Italy's beautiful princess duly made its way to
the Grand Canal. The princess came to her balcony, while the "Jewel
Song" in "Faust" was being sung below, and there was a demonstration
which echoed from palace to palace and died away under the arch of the
Rialto. Then the gondolas dispersed. That of Lady Kitty Ashe had some
difficulty in making its way home against a force of wind and tide
coming from the lagoon.

* * * * *

Kitty was apparently asleep when Ashe returned. He had sat late with his
hosts--men prominent in the Risorgimento and in the politics of the new
kingdom--discussing the latest intricacies of the Roman situation and
the prospects of Italian finance. His mind was all alert and vigorous,
ranging over great questions and delighting in its own strength. To come
in contact with these able foreigners, not as the mere traveller but as
an important member of an English government, beginning to be spoken of
by the world as one of the two or three men of the future--this was a
new experience and a most agreeable one. Doors hitherto closed had
opened before him; information no casual Englishman could have commanded
had been freely poured out for him; last, but not least, he had at
lengt