"But you forget your engagement to the Contessa Giulia," said
Ludovico; "surely you had better make haste to keep it."
He had no belief whatever in any such engagement, and had a very
faint hope that any care for consistency would avail to induce his
friend the Conte Leandro to affect the necessity of keeping it. But
he also was perfectly determined not to leave him in the room with
the strangers, though almost as much at a loss as Paolina how to
prevent it.
"Oh, hang the Contessa Giulia! In any case, it is too late to go to
her now, and I am sure I shall like much better to stay here," said
Leandro.
"Very likely. But you forget that it may not be equally agreeable to
these ladies that you should remain here, and they just arrived from
a journey too," said the Marchese Ludovico, who was inwardly cursing
his folly in having brought his friend with him on this errand,
which he unquestionably would not have done had he had the remotest
idea what manner of ladies they were that his uncle had deputed him
to attend on.
"By-the-by, Leandro," he said, suddenly, as he was moving towards
the door, "you must come with me--after all; for now I remember that
the rooms I had in my mind were let a short time since, and the best
thing we can do will be to go and look at those you spoke of."
"Oh! I will tell you where they are--" said Leandro.
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