"Not on mine, Zuleika, not on mine. I forgave and forgot all long ago."
"Forgave and forgot! Then Espérance must have wronged you!"
"He did, Zuleika, and with the proverbial hot blood and headlong impulses of the Roman youth I resented that wrong. But I could not remain at enmity with the brother of the girl I loved, so when I became cooler I sought him out and endeavored to apologize."
"And he accepted your apology?"
"He did not accept it, but turned on his heel and left me without a word. He evidently thought me a coward and attributed my efforts toward effecting a reconciliation to a desire to escape fighting him."
"But why did you quarrel in the first place? What was the cause of the difference between you?"
The young Italian hung his head and did not answer. Zuleika saw that he had grown deadly pale, and she felt his hand tremble nervously.
Freeing herself from his embrace, the young girl sprang to her feet and faced him.
"Giovanni," said she, firmly, "tell me the whole story of this painful affair. It is imperative that I should know it!"