I sat down on the trunk by her side, and, passing my arm through hers, I said: "Mica! mica! mica! in reply to everything. I shall call you Mademoiselle Mica, I think."
For the first time I fancied that I saw the shadow of a smile on her lips, but it passed by so quickly that I may have been mistaken.
"But if you never say anything but Mica I shall not know what to do to try to please you. Let us see; what shall we do to-day?"
She hesitated a moment as if some fancy had flitted through her head, and then she said carelessly: "It is all the same to me; whatever you like."
"Very well, Mademoiselle Mica, we will have a carriage and go for a drive."
"As you please," she said.
Paul was waiting for us in the dining-room, looking as bored as third parties generally do in love affairs. I assumed a delighted air, and shook hands with him with triumphant energy.
"What are you thinking of doing?" he asked.
"First of all we will go and see a little of the town, and then we might take a carriage, for a drive in the neighborhood."
We breakfasted nearly in silence and then started. I dragged Francesca from palace to palace, and she either looked at nothing or merely just glanced carelessly at all the various masterpieces. Paul followed us, growling all sorts of disagreeable things. Then we all three took a silent drive into the country and returned to dinner.