She had bright smiles, and pretty captivating looks, and courteous,
prettily-turned phrases for all. But amid all this she contrived
unfailingly all the time, by means of some exquisitely subtle nuance
of manner, to impress every person present with the unconsciously-
conceived feeling that there was something more between her and the
Marchese and his nephew than between her and anybody else in the
room; that she in some sort belonged to them, and was being
presented to the society under their auspices. She remained close by
the side of the Marchese. She would look with an appealing and
inquiring glance into his face at each fresh introduction that was
made to her, as if to ask his sanction and approval. She had some
little word from time to time either for his ear, or that of his
nephew, spoken in such a manner as to reach those of nobody else;
while, gracious to all, she delicately but markedly graduated the
scale of her graciousness towards those who were introduced to her,
according to the degree of intimacy which seemed to exist between
them and the Marchese. The result was that the Marchese, without
having been in the least conscious by what means and steps it had
been brought about, felt, by the time the gathering was at an end, a
sort of sense of proprietorship in the brilliant and lovely
artiste;--it was so evidently he who was presenting her to the city!
She herself so evidently felt that it would become her to rule her
conduct in all respects at Ravenna according to the Marchese's
wishes and ideas, and there was so sweet and so subtle a flattery in
the way in which she made this felt, that when, after all the crowd
had retired, and she was about to take leave of the Marchese to go
to the lodging that had been prepared for her, she ventured to take
his hand between both hers, while looking up into his face to thank
him, in a voice quivering with emotion, for his kindness to her,
there passed a something into the system of the Marchese from that
contact of the palms that he found it very difficult to rid himself
of.
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