She had large--very large--wide-opened, clear, and limpid
light-blue eyes, with that trick of an appealing look in them which
always seems to say to every manly heart, "You, alone of all the
harsh, cold, indifferent crowd around us, are he to whom I can look
for sympathy, comprehension, and fellow-feeling." And now these eyes
looked round from one to another of those around her with a look of
smiling, innocent surprise and inquiry that demanded an explanation
of the unprecedented circumstances with a childish freshness the
most engaging.
She wore a bright blue velvet pelisse, trimmed with ermine, which
admirably showed to the greatest advantage her magnificently shaped
bust, and round slender waist; and bent forward towards the
Marchese, as he stood at the carriage-door, with inimitable grace of
gesture, and a smile on her sweet lips that would have utterly
defeated and put to shame any St. Antony exposed to such temptation.
"Signora," said the Marchese, who looked very handsome, as he stood
with his hat in his hand, and bowed with stately courtesy, "Ravenna
welcomes you, and places itself at your feet in our persons. Permit
me to present to you these gentlemen, who have had the good fortune
to be selected among many aspirants to that honour, to assist me in
welcoming you to our city: the Barone Adolfo Manutoli; my nephew,
the Marchese Ludovico di Castelmare.
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