Count Nobili hesitated. What could this strange man have to say to him?
Guglielmi watched him.
"You will spare me half an hour?" he urged. "That will suffice."
Count Nobili looked greatly embarrassed.
"A thousand thanks!" exclaimed Guglielmi, accepting his silence for consent. "I will not trespass needlessly on your time. Permit me to find some one to conduct you to a room."
Guglielmi looked round—Angelo came forward.
"Conduct Count Nobili to the room prepared for him," said the lawyer.
"There, Count Nobili, I will attend you in a few minutes."
CHAPTER VIII.
FOR THE HONOR OF A NAME.
When the marchesa entered the sala after she had left the chapel, her steps were slow and measured. Count Nobili's words rang in her ear: "I will not live with her." She could not put these words from her. For the first time in her life the marchesa was shaken in the belief of her mission.