“Yes; and there is some more over there.”
“Does this wine intoxicate, Signor Andrea?” inquired Lucia.
“That’s according; I have some of greater strength.”
“Intoxicating?”
“Yes.”
“Wine is an excellent and beneficent gift. It gives intoxication and forgetfulness,” she said, slowly.
“Forgetfulness,” murmured Alberto; “and the Signora Caterina, whom we are forgetting.”
The other two exchanged a rapid glance. They had indeed forgotten Caterina, who had been waiting for them for an hour in the Maria Carolina saloon, whence the other ladies had departed.
At table, between the roast and the salad, Lucia mentioned that she had been, and was, still in low spirits on account of poor Galimberti. The impending misfortune took her appetite away.