“Almost.”
“You met him by accident?”
“Not by accident.”
“Maria, Maria!” he cried; “why have you done this?”
“I have erred; pardon me, Marco.”
She humbled herself, taking his hands to kiss them in an act of profound contrition.
But releasing himself, he made two or three turns of the room, then returned to her.
“And what has that reptile said to you? Repeat to me what that horrid man said to you.”
“Oh, he is so horrid as to make one shudder.”
“Repeat it; repeat it at once, Maria.”