"What is it?" asked Cecilia, nervously.
"It is a very simple matter, and one that will not interest you much."
He paused one moment, and fixed his eyes on the brown veil, where he knew that hers were.
"I love you."
Cecilia started violently, and put out one hand against the wall behind her.
"Do not be frightened, Contessina," he said gently. "Many men will say that to you before you are old. But none of them will mean it more truly than I. Shall we go? Your mother may not stay long with Guido."
He moved, expecting her to go on, but she leaned against the wall where she stood, and she stared at his face through her veil. For an instant she thought she was going to faint, for her heart stopped beating and the blood left her head. She did not know whether it was happiness, or surprise, or fear that paralysed her, when his simple words revealed the vastness of the mistake in which she had lived, and the immensity of joy she had missed by so little. She pressed her hand flat against the wall beside her, sure that if she moved it she must fall.
"Have I offended you, Signorina?" Lamberti asked, and the low tones shook a little.
She could not speak yet, but his voice seemed to steady her, and her heart beat again. As if she were making a great effort her hand slowly left the wall, and she stretched it out towards him, silently asking for his. He did not understand, but he took it and held it quietly, coming a little nearer to her.
"You have forgiven me," he said. "Thank you. You are kind. Good-bye."