"It would be better to go and see, Tullio."
I left the room and descended the stairs. I hesitated a little; a cloud was before my eyes; it seemed to me that a mist rose from my brain. From the little side door that opened in the surrounding wall, I called Calisto, whose dwelling was near by. I interrogated him. The carriage had not been seen yet.
The old man would have liked to detain me in conversation.
"Do you know, Calisto," I said to him, "that probably we will return here to-morrow to stay?"
He raised his arms in token of his delight.
"Really?"
"Really. We shall have time to chat. When you see the carriage, come and let me know. Good-night, Calisto."
I left him to reënter the house. The day was waning and the swallows cried still more loudly. The sky seemed to be alive with them, as the flocks rapidly cleft the air.
"Well?" asked Juliana, turning from the mirror which she had approached in order to adjust her hat.
"Nothing."