I know I
may trust you; may I not?"
"Depend on it, Signor Marchese, your secret shall be quite safe with
me. But are you sure it is a secret? And then, do you know,"
continued the Diva, resuming her air of pensive thought, "when I
hear a man in your position speaking with such noble truthfulness,
the converse of the thought that I angered you--very innocently,
believe me--by expressing just now, comes into my head. And I ask
myself, if women in such a position as the lady we speak of, are apt
to take themselves to task with sufficient strictness, as to what
they are giving in return for all that is offered to them."
"I don't quite understand your meaning, Signora," said Ludovico, who
really did not perceive the drift of his companion's words.
"I mean that a woman, so circumstanced, ought to be very sure that
she is giving her heart to the man who asks for it, and not to his
position, not to the advantages, to the wealth he offers her. She
ought to feel certain that, if all this--the advantages--the wealth
were to vanish and fly away, her love would remain the same. Suppose
now--it is out of the question, you tell me, but the case may be
imagined all the same--suppose your uncle, the Marchese, were to
marry, would the Venetian lady's love suffer no tittle of falling
off?"
The red blood rushed to Ludovico's cheeks and brow, and then came an
angry gleam into his eyes.
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