"She is very fond of him."
"Yes; his mother was her dearest friend, his father her only brother."
Claudia considered that she had now given sufficient time to this subject (not an interesting one), and they talked of other things, but in short sentences, for they were still ascending. Twice she stopped to rest for a minute or two; then Lenox came down a step, and stood beside her. There was no danger; still, if a person should be seized with giddiness, the thought of the near open well in the centre, going darkly down, was a dizzy one.
At the top they had the view: wide green flatness towards the east, northeast, southeast, with myriad gleaming, silvery channels; the Lido and the soft line of the Adriatic beyond; towns shining whitely in the north; to the west, Venice, with its long bridge stretching to the mainland; in port, at their feet, a large Italian man-of-war; on the south side, the point of the Giudecca.
| "‘À Saint-Blaise, à la Zuecca, |
| Vous étiez bien aise; |
| À Saint-Blaise, à la Zuecca, |
| Nous étions bien là!’" |
quoted Claudia. "I chant it because I have just discovered that the Zuecca means the Giudecca yonder."
"What is the verse?" said Lenox.
"Don't you know it? It is Musset."
"I have read but little, Miss Marcy."
"You have not had time to read," said Claudia, with a shade of emphasis; "your time has been given to better things."