But that was out of the question;
unless he had been confined to his bed--in which case the whole town
would have been at the palazzo door with inquiries, and all the
doctors at his bedside in consultation--it could not be that he
should not show himself at the Corso.
Both the Castelmare carriages had the front seats laden with huge
baskets of bouquets prepared for throwing at friends and
acquaintances in other carriages, and at windows and balconies. The
occupants of the carriages seemed to be embedded in a bank of
flowers. And there sat the Marchese amid this wealth of rainbow-
colours, looking positively ghastly,--so changed, so drawn, so aged
was he. And his painful attempts to enter into the spirit of the
scene, and act the part which he was expected to act, would have
been pitiable to any eye which had observed them closely.
He had left Bianca only just before it had been necessary to return
to the palazzo to get into his carriage for the Corso: and the
interview between them had been an important one. He had gone
thither fully purposed to explain to her, finally, the utter
impossibility of his doing as she would have him do. He meant to
point out to her how exceptionally difficult it would be for him, in
the peculiar position he occupied, to make her his wife. He intended
to show her that such a step would have the effect of pulling him
down rather than that of pulling her up.
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