"Claudia unaccompanied!" cried a young noble. "The strangest sight at this remarkable carnival!"
"I am fasting," she answered gaily; "and now that I long for meagre food, you come! What a lucky chance!"
"Heavy Grimani has also become a very light man, with your assistance."
"That's why he flew away. Suppose you follow him?"
"Gladly, gladly, if you will accompany me."
"Excuse me to-day; there comes my knight."
Ulrich had remained absent a long time, but Claudia had not noticed it. Now he bowed to the gentlemen, offered her his arm, and as they descended the staircase, whispered: "The mask who escorted you just now detained me;—and there . . . see, they are picking him up down there in the court-yard.—He attacked me. . . ."
"You have—you. . . ."
"'They came to his assistance immediately. He barred my way with his unsheathed blade."
Claudia hastily drew her hand from the artist's arm, exclaiming in a low, anxious tone: "Go, go, unhappy man, whoever you may be! It was Luigi Grimani; it was a Grimani! You are lost, if they find you. Go, if you love your life, go at once!"