"Shut the door quickly," she whispered, "and do not open it for anybody, till I come out."
Pasquale obeyed in silence. He knew as well as she did that Giovanni was sitting in the big room, with open windows, within easy hearing of ordinary sounds. A feeble light came through the open door of the porter's lodge.
"Is Zorzi awake?" Marietta asked in a low tone, when both had gone a few steps down the corridor.
"Yes. He will sleep little to-night, for the boys have not come, and he must tend the fire himself."
Marietta guessed that her brother had given the order, so that Zorzi might be left quite alone.
"Pasquale," she said, "I can trust you, I am sure. You are a good friend to Zorzi."
The porter growled something incoherent, but she understood what he meant.
"Yes," she continued, "I trust you, and you must trust me. It is absolutely necessary that I should speak with Zorzi alone to-night. No one knows that I have left the house, and no one must know that I have been here."
The old sailor had seen much in his day, but he was profoundly astonished at Marietta's audacity.
"You are the mistress," he said in a grave and quiet voice that Marietta had never heard before. "But I am an old man, and I cannot help telling you that it is not seemly for a young girl to be alone at night with a young man, in the place where he lives. You will forgive me for saying so, because I have served your father a long time."