Zorzi was
not mentioned.
"You are welcome at my house, my son," Beroviero said, when they had
finished, "but I suppose that you will go back to your own this
evening."
This was of course a command, and Marietta thought it a good omen. She
had felt sure, when her father made her look at him, that Giovanni had
spoken to him of the mantle, but in what way she could not tell.
Perhaps, though it seemed incredible, he would not make such a serious
case of it as she had expected.
He said nothing, when he withdrew to rest during the hot hours of the
afternoon, and she went to her own room as every one did at that time.
Little as she had slept that night, she felt that it would be
intolerable to lie down; so she took her little basket of beads and
tried to work. Nella was dozing in the next room. From time to time the
young girl leaned back in her chair with half-closed eyes, and a look of
pain came over her face; then with an effort she took her needle once
more, and picked out the beads, threading them one by one in a regular
succession of colours.
She was sure that if Zorzi were near he would have already found some
means of informing her that he was really in safety. He must have
friends of whom she knew nothing, and who had rescued him at great risk.
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