“He gave it to me—yes! But it is probable he first emptied it. As you see,” she added in her turn, holding it out after brief examination.
“Signorina—” the guardia began again, shrugging his shoulders.
She stopped him haughtily—
“The Marchesa di Sant’ Eustachio, if you please.”
The mention of her name caused a visible stir of interest, and the police looked uneasy. The one who had not spoken drew her on one side.
“Eccellenza,” he said civilly, “it is all doubtless as you say; but, permit me, had you anything in your purse which you could identify?”
“I had next to nothing. Four or five lire, perhaps. But how can you doubt, when it is so perfectly clear?”
“A hundred pardons, eccellenza; it is a great pity you did not catch him in the act. Then! As it is—you heard his story—who knows?”
And he also spread his hands.
By this time Teresa was pale, and very angry indeed, for she saw that the guardie were afraid.