Laura raised the portiere, and led him forward. She saw Victorine reach him his mask, and then, darting back into her boudoir, she fell upon her knees, and prayed for an hour.
Meanwhile the Countess Lucretia was still discussing her affairs; but she seemed to have become absent-minded, sometimes stopping suddenly in her sp'eech to listen, occasionally directing anxious glances toward the windows.
The marquis was too keen for these symptoms to escape his penetration.
"Are you watching or waiting for any thing?" asked he.
"Yes," replied she, "I await something, and—oh! there it is!"
As she spoke these last words, a voice from the water called out three times: "Addio! addio! addio!"
"Do you know what that 'addio' signifies?" asked Lucretia.
"How can I understand the signals that pass between you and your loves?"
"I will tell you what it means," said she, looking full into her brother's face. "I—but no! your eyes glare too fiercely just now; you are ready for a spring, and I dare not wait to be devoured. Addio, Ottario, addio. Take this note, and swear that you will not open it before ten minutes."
"What childishness!" exclaimed Strozzi, rudely.