Thereupon she fixed her eyes upon him, and, whether because her features wore an expression of kindness and cordiality in contrast to the careless good-nature of her manners, or because Michel was assailed by a strange hallucination, he was stirred to the lowest depths of his being by that unexpected glance. It seemed to him that a searching flame, intense and penetrating, entered his very soul from the great lady's soft eyes; that an ineffable affection, coming forth from that unknown heart, had taken possession of his whole being; in short, that the Princess Agatha said to him in language more eloquent than any human words: "Come to my arms, come to my heart!"
Michel, bewildered, fascinated, beside himself, shuddered, turned pale, approached with an involuntary, convulsive movement, tremblingly took the princess's hand, and, as he was about to put it to his lips, raised his eyes once more to hers, thinking that he had been mistaken, and that he could in that way put an end to a dream that was at once painful and delicious. But those pure and limpid eyes expressed a love so absolute and so trustful that he lost his head, felt that his senses were leaving him, and fell as if crushed at the signora's feet.
When he recovered his presence of mind, the princess was already several steps away. She walked on, followed by Pier-Angelo, and when they were alone at the farther end of the room, they seemed to be discussing some detail of the fête. Michel was ashamed; his emotion rapidly vanished in face of the thought that he had presented to all his companions a spectacle of incredible weakness and presumption; but, as the princess's kind words had electrified them all, and as they had all resumed their labor with a sort of joyful frenzy, they sang and hammered, and bustled about him, and his adventure was a mere incident, lost, or at least not understood, in the crowd. Some had noticed, with a smile, that he bowed lower than he needed to do, and that it was apparently an aristocratic and gallant habit which he had brought from abroad with his haughty air and his fine clothes. Others thought that he had stumbled over a board when he was about to bow, and that his awkwardness had caused his confusion.
Magnani alone had watched him closely and half guessed the truth.
"Michel," he said, after a few moments, when their work had brought them together once more, "you seem very timid, but I believe that you are insanely bold. It is certain that the princess thought you a handsome fellow, and that she looked at you in a certain way which might have meant something very different on the part of any other woman; but do not be too presumptuous, my boy; this excellent princess is a virtuous lady; she has never been known to have a lover, and if she chose to take one, it isn't at all likely that she would begin with a little painter in distemper, when so many illustrious noblemen ——"
"Hush, Magnani," said Michel, vehemently; "your jests wound me, and I have never given you the right to laugh at me in this way; I won't endure it."
"Come, no temper," rejoined the young journeyman; "I have no intention of offending you, and when a man has arms like mine, he would be a coward to insult a boy like you. Besides, I am not naturally unkind, and as I told you before, if I speak frankly to you, it is because I am inclined to like you. I feel that you have a mind superior to mine, which attracts and charms me. But I also feel that you have a weak character and a wild imagination. If you have more intelligence and more refinement, I have more common sense and experience. Do not take my reflections in bad part. You have no friends among us as yet, and you could already reckon more than one enmity prepared to break out, if you should incline to see what is going on around you. I may be able to be of service to you in some way, and if you listen to my warning, you will avoid many vexations which you do not foresee. Come, Michel, do you scorn me, and reject my friendship?"
"On the contrary, I request it," replied Michel, moved and completely conquered by Magnani's frankness; "and I propose to show myself worthy of it by justifying myself. I know nothing, I believe nothing, I think nothing of the princess. For the first time in my life I see so great a lady at close quarters, and ——. But why do you smile?"
"You stop to ask about my smile to avoid finishing your sentence. I will finish it for you. You find that a great lady is something divine, and you fall madly in love with her. You love grandeur! I understood that perfectly the first time I saw you."
"No, no!" cried Michel, "I have not fallen in love; I do not know this woman, and, as for her grandeur, I do not know in what it consists. You might as well say that I am in love with her palace, her dress, or her diamonds, for thus far I have seen no other signs of superiority, except excellent taste, in which we assist her materially, it seems to me, as well as her jeweller and her dressmaker."