will join
them.'

The Senator remembered that he had eaten only a few mouthfuls since
dinner, and the savoury fumes from the hall further sharpened his
appetite.

'The gentlemen are eating together at the little table in the recess,'
Markos added, as he detected signs of hesitation. 'You can turn your
back to the room, my lord, if you do not wish to be watched.'

Pignaver nodded and followed the host, who at once led the way in. Some
of the people who had been supping when the Bravi had entered were gone
away, but others had taken their places. The young Florentine and his
beautiful guest had disappeared, and their table was occupied by a
noisily gay party, of whom more than half wore masks. The two fair
Englishmen in velvet were still gravely drinking with their laughing
companions, but their eyes were growing rather dull. The serenaders had
finished their meal, and were making soft music in their corner, trying
over the songs they were going to sing.

'Gentlemen,' said Markos to the Bravi, 'allow me to introduce a highly
respectable personage who has business with you, and would like to join
you at supper.'

Trombin and Gambardella rose with a courtesy which showed where they had
been bred, in spite of their present profession. Though they had been at
supper two hours and had done well by a jar of old Samian, they were as
cool and steady as when they had sat down, a fact which predisposed
Pignaver in their favour.

'Will you do us the honour to be our guest, sir?' asked Gambardella at
once.

'But you have already supped, gentlemen,' answered the Senator.

'That is a trifle, sir,' Trombin said. 'We have not quite finished, and
if you will join us we shall be delighted to begin again from the
beginning. A clean cloth, Markos,' he went on at once, turning to the
host, 'and the same dishes over again!'

'Your hospitality confounds me, sirs,' protested the Senator. 'I can but
accept your gracious invitation.'

He sat down at the end of the small table, turning his back to the hall.
Markos was already making preparations, and in a few minutes the board
was set again, and with the very same delicacies which the Senator had
just begun to taste at his own supper when Ortensia's flight had been
discovered. He ate in silence, with solemn greediness, while his two
companions each took one shrimp and a taste of the caviare, and
exchanged an occasional glance. When he had consumed everything except
the bread, Pignaver