I could not be sure about the place. One bit of the forest is so
much like another,--just the same thing over and over again,--that I
could not feel quite sure of the spot. I still think I went back to
the right place; but there she was not. Then I searched the wood all
round, far and near, for, I should think, a couple of hours or more.
I called aloud, again and again, all to no purpose. And what on
earth has become of her I cannot imagine."
"And why you need trouble your head about it, I don't see. I wished
the devil might fly away with her just now! And if the devil has
taken the hint and done so, I confess it seems to me about the best
thing that could happen! Why on earth you, of all people in the
world, Signor Ludovico, should be so anxious to recover the lady, I
confess I cannot understand. Would it not be the best thing in the
world for you if she were never heard of again?"
"Oh, per amore di Dio, Signor Giovacchino, don't talk in that way.
Never heard of again! I shall be really uneasy if I don't hear of
her again in a very few minutes. It is so extraordinary. What can
have become of her?"
"Become of her! Why, she waited, of course: got tired of waiting for
you, and so strolled back to the town. That sort of lady does not
much like waiting, I fancy."
"That sort of lady does not much like walking so far as from the
Pineta here, I fancy.
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