Is it
wonderful now that I rejoice in her disappointments--that I
should be glad to hear any ill thing of her that any one could
tell me?"
"But how did she first get the advantage of you?"
"If I had found out, she would never have succeeded where I
failed. All I know is, that she had more opportunities of seeing
him than I, and that she used them cunningly enough even to
deceive me. While I thought I was gaining ground with Fabio, I
was actually losing it. My first suspicions were excited by a
change in Luca Lomi's conduct toward me. He grew cold,
neglectful--at last absolutely rude. I was resolved not to see
this; but accident soon obliged me to open my eyes. One morning I
heard Fabio and Maddalena talking of me when they imagined I had
left the studio. I can't repeat their words, especially here. The
blood flies into my head, and the cold catches me at the heart,
when I only think of them. It will be enough if I tell you that
he laughed at me, and that she--"
"Hush! not so loud. There are other people lodging in the house.
Never mind about telling me what you heard; it only irritates you
to no purpose. I can guess that they had discovered--"
"Through her--remember, all through her!"
"Yes, yes, I understand. They had discovered a great deal more
than you ever intended them to know, and all through her."
"But for the priest, Virginie, I should have been openly insulted
and driven from their doors.
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