"No one ever told me," she answered. "Do you think you could find out? I should like to know."
"What form of sin do you most affect?" asked Arden, with a smile. "Do you more often do the things you ought not to do, or do you leave undone the things which you ought to do?"
"Oh, I leave the good things undone, of course!" answered Laura. "I suppose everybody does, as a rule."
"You are decidedly good-natured, particularly so in making that last remark. I am less afraid of you than I was when I sat down."
The young girl looked at him again. His conversation was so far not like that of the Englishmen she had known hitherto.
"Were you afraid of me?" she asked, beginning to smile.
"A little, I confess."
"Why? And if you were, why did you make Signor Ghisleri introduce you to me?"
"Because nobody likes to own to being afraid. Besides, Ghisleri is a very old friend of mine, and I can trust him not to lead me into danger."
"Have you known him long?" asked Laura. "I have often wondered what he is really like. I mean his character, you know, and what he thinks about."