emembered; and when at last she
found herself and her companion of old days seated at a small, clean,
bright window-table in the Restaurant Gianuzzi--they being the only
occupants of the long saloon--she fairly clapped her little hands
together in her gladness. And then how pretty she looked! She had
removed her bonnet; and the light from the window, falling on the
magnificent masses of her jet-black hair gave it almost a blue sheen in
places; while here and there--about the wax-like ear, for example, a
tiny ringlet had got astray, and its soft darkness against the olive
complexion seemed to heighten the clear, pure pallor of the oval cheek.
And now all doubts as to how Leo might receive her had fled from her
mind; they were on the old, familiar terms again; and she followed with
an eager and joyous interest all that he had to say to her. Then how
easily could she accentuate her sympathetic listening with this
expressive face! The mobile, somewhat large, beautifully formed mouth,
the piquant little nose with its sensitive nostrils, the eloquent dark
eyes could just say anything she pleased; though, to be sure, however
varying her mood might be, in accordance with what she heard and what
was demanded of her, her normal expression was one of an almost childish
and happy content. She poured her glass of Chianti into a tumbler, and
filled that up with water, and sipped it as a canary sips. She made
little pellets of bread with her dainty white fingers--but that was in
forgetfulness--that was in her eagerness of listening. And at last she
said,

"What is it, Leo?--you wish to frighten me with your trials?--no! for
now you laugh at all these--these mortifications. Then a man is
proud--he is sensitive--he is not patient as a woman--oh, you think you
frighten me?--no, no!"

The fact is, he began to see more and more clearly that she was resolved
upon trying her fortune on the lyric stage; and he thought it his duty
to let her know very distinctly what she would have to encounter. He did
not exactly try to dissuade her; but he gave her a general idea of what
she might expect, and that in not too roseate colors. His chief
difficulty, however, was this: he was possessed by a vague feeling that
there might be some awkwardness in having Antonia Rossi engaged at the
same theatre with himself; and yet, looking round all the light operas
then being performed, he had honestly to confess that the only part Nina
could aspire to take, wi