"If ever an explanation darkened counsel!" mournfully he jeered.
"You have asked me to be your wife. I reply that first you must make a journey to Sampaolo. Is that not simple?" said Susanna.
He was walking about the room.
"Do you mean to say "—he came to a standstill—"that if I make a journey to Sampaolo, you will be my wife?"
"I mean to say that I will never be your wife unless you do."
"But if I do—?"
She leaned back, smiling, among her cushions.
"That will depend upon the result of your journey."
He shook his head again.
"I 'm utterly at sea," he professed. "I have never heard anything that sounded so bewilderingly devoid of reason. Explain yourself. What is it all about?"