"What does my face tell you, Signorina?"
"Evil, evil! your eyes are sad, your mouth does not smile! Oh, tell me quickly what you know! Is he found? is he ill? is he--dead?"
She brought out the last word in a shrill scream, with dilated eyes that almost terrified me by the fear expressed in them, and, dreading the effect of a sudden shock on this fragile child, I hastily replied in the negative.
"No, Signorina, no! Do not look so fearful, I pray you. He is not dead. Child, I am sure he is not dead!"
"Then you have not found him yet?"
"No; I have not found him, but I think I know where he is to be found."
"What do you mean, Signor Hugo, tell me all--tell me all. See, I am strong, I can bear it--I wish to know everything."
"Signorina, the note which Guiseppe Pallanza received at the Ezzelino was not from a friend but from an enemy."
"An enemy!"
"Yes! from one who wished him ill. Thinking it was from his dying friend, he obeyed the letter and was lured to the deserted Palazzo Morone."