"Will he come to me when I am alone?" she asked, and her voice did not shake.
"I will ask him," answered the clear voice, and again there was silence, but only for a few seconds. "This is his answer," continued the voice. "He cannot come to you when you are alone, as yet. By and by he will come. But he watches over you. For the present he can only speak with you through Giuditta Astarita, who is now asleep."
"Is she asleep?" asked Matilde.
"She is in a trance," the voice replied. "I speak through her, but when she awakes, she will not know what I have said. The spirits come to her directly sometimes, when she is awake, and they torment her. Bosio has been coming to her often, and has made her suffer, until she wrote to you. The spirits themselves suffer when they wish to communicate with the living, and cannot."
"What are you?" inquired Matilda.
"I am Giuditta's familiar. The spirits generally speak, through me, to her, when she is in the trance."
"And she knows nothing of what you say?"
"Nothing, after she is awake."
"Is Bosio suffering now?" asked Matilde, gravely but eagerly, after a moment's pause.
"I will ask him." And another brief pause followed. "Yes," continued the voice. "He is suffering because he has left you. He suffers remorse. He cannot be happy unless he can communicate with you."