"Where have you been?" she demanded.

"With Titian."

"Giorgione wanted you. He did scold so—!" She laughed musically.

Zarato nodded. "I go to him to-morrow."

"Has Titian finished?"

"For the present—He will lay it away."

"I know," she laughed, "—to mellow!... How did you like it?"

He hesitated a second. "It was a little rough," he confessed.

"Always!" The laugh rippled sweetly. "Like a log of wood—or a heap of stones—or a large loaf of bread."

He stirred uneasily. "Do you sit to him often?" he asked.