Eufemia,
and his no visits to the Lady Violante. But he troubled himself
little to account for this, or to question the reason of the goods
the gods provided him. It was not in his character to do so.
Paolina, on her side, was, upon the whole, trustful and contented.
Yet there had been moments at which she had suffered a passing pang
from little gossipings which had been, perhaps injudiciously,
repeated to her by Orsola Steno. Of course the great prima donna,
the celebrated Lalli, who was blessing Ravenna by her presence, was
often talked of in the Via di Sta. Eufemia, as she was in every
other house in the city. That was quite a matter of course. And then
Orsola would speak of the strict conduct of the lady; of the fact
that no one of the young nobles of the place was permitted to visit
her--except, indeed, the young Marchese Ludovico; and how people did
say that half-a-dozen would be safer company than one; and that the
young Marchese was finishing the sowing of his wild oats before
becoming a married man by a flirtation with one of the most
celebrated beauties of Italy.
There was very little cause for this gossip beyond what the reader
is aware of. Still, upon the whole, it might have been better if
Ludovico had seen less of the fascinating singer. He had given cause
enough for spiteful tongues to make mischief if they could do so;
and it may probably be supposed that he was not insensible to the
fascinations of Bianca--perhaps not to the glory of the fact that he
was the only young man admitted to her society, and that he had
occasionally done that which, being repeated, might not unnaturally
give umbrage to Paolina.
Pages:
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323