"I came to see them off," replied Sant' Ilario, coldly. It seemed to him as though his companion must have followed him.
"So did I," said San Giacinto. "I heard the news late last night, and only lay down for an hour or two."
"What time is it?" asked Giovanni, who supposed it was about midnight.
"Five o'clock. It will be daylight, or dawn at least, in an hour."
Giovanni was silent, wondering absently where he had been all night.
For some time the two walked on without speaking.
"You had better come and have coffee with me," said San Giacinto as they passed through the Piazza Barbarini. "I made my man get up so that I might have some as soon as I got home."
Giovanni assented. The presence of some one with whom he could speak made him realise that he was almost exhausted for want of food. It was morning, and he had eaten nothing since the preceding midday, and little enough then. In a few minutes they reached San Giacinto's lodging. There was a lamp burning brightly on the table of the sitting-room, and a little fire was smouldering on the hearth. Giovanni sank into a chair, worn out with hunger and fatigue, while the servant brought the coffee and set it on the table.
"You look tired," remarked San Giacinto. "One lump or two?"
Giovanni drank the beverage without tasting it, but it revived him, and the warmth of the room comforted his chilled and tired limbs. He did not notice that San Giacinto was looking hard at him, wondering indeed what could have produced so strange an alteration in his appearance and manner.
"How is the princess?" asked the big man in a tone of sympathy as he slowly stirred the sugar in his coffee.