y of the sea, which, in its freshness, clung to her, and at the
last, by a wonderful illusion, she gave the appearance of having gone
under the waves.

For several seconds the house remained absolutely hushed, and in that
moment Nina found herself vaguely groping through a confusion of
ecstatic, yet slightly shocked, sensations. She wondered whether La
Favorita had really nothing on except a number of yards of tulle which
she held in her hands.

But the verdict of the audience was voiced by a torrent of bravos and
handclappings that thundered until La Favorita, having thrown a long
mantle about her, came out into the glare of the footlights.

She bowed and kissed her hands, her smiles of acknowledgment sweeping
the house from left to right, but at the box of the Sanseveros her
smile faded, and she threw back her head with a movement of triumph.

Nina was startled into fancying that she looked long, directly, and
particularly at her.

CHAPTER XII

A BALL AT COURT

The Sansevero party left the opera shortly after ten o'clock, and a
little while later drove into the courtyard of the Quirinal. Entering a
side door, they ascended a long staircase, upon each step of which was
stationed a royal cuirassier, all resplendent in embroidered coats,
polished high boots, and veritable Greek helmets, which seemed to add
still further to their unusual height. Between their immovable ranks the
guests thronged up the stairway to the Cuirassiers' Hall. Here, at the
long benches provided for the purpose, they left their wraps in charge
of innumerable flunkies in the royal livery--which consists of a red
coat, embroidered either in gold or in silver, powdered hair, blue plush
breeches, and pink stockings.

Nina followed her aunt and uncle through an antechamber into the throne
room and beyond again into the vast yellow _sala di ballo_. Here also
the cuirassiers, who were stationed everywhere, added a martial dignity
to the splendor of the scene. The people were all massed against the
sides of the room; and although certain important personages had seats
upon the long red silk benches placed in set rows, the great majority of
those present stood, and stood, and stood. In contrast to her weary
waiting at the afternoon reception when, a few days before, she had been
presented at court, Nina found so much to interest her to-night that she
did not remark the time. One side of the room was quite empty save for
the big gilt chair