The young man entreated him to say, at least, when he should see him again, and exclaimed, seeing Benedetto really did not know what to answer:
“Oh! I shall see you in Rome! You will surely go to Rome!”
Benedetto smiled:
“In Rome? And how will you find me there?”
The lad answered that he would certainly be talked of in Rome, that every one would know where to find him.
“If it be God’s will!” said Benedetto, with an affectionate gesture of farewell.
The lad detained him a moment, holding his hand.
“I am a Lombard also,” said he. “I am Alberti, from Milan. Do not forget me!”
And his intense gaze followed Benedetto until he disappeared at a bend of the mule-path.