The viscount coolly lighted his cigar and walked out of the room.
Claudia remained sitting where he had left her, deeply perplexed in mind. Then, feeling too restless to sit still, she arose and began to walk about the room and examine its objects of interest—its pictures, statues, vases, et cetera.
She then went to the windows; the shutters were closed, the blinds down and the curtains drawn, so that she could not look out into the night; but she could hear the thunder of the sea as it broke upon the rock on which the castle was founded.
Tired of that, she went to the music stand, near the piano, and began to turn over the music books.
She picked up one from which Mrs. Dugald had been singing. In turning it over her eyes fell upon the picture of a full-length female form engraved upon the cover. She looked at it more closely. It was the portrait of the woman who had been introduced to her as Mrs. Dugald. But it bore the name: La Faustina, as Norma.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE PLOT AGAINST CLAUDIA.
Alas! a thought of saddest weight
Presses and will have vent:
Had she not scorned his love, her fate
Had been so different!
Had her heart bent its haughty will
To take him for its lord,
She had been proudly happy still;
Still honored, still adored.
—Monckton Milnes
Indignation rooted Claudia to the spot.
Instinct had already warned her that she was insulted and degraded by the presence of this strange woman in the house.