Cesare Dias spoke a word or two to Luigi, and the two men rose and left their places.
Suddenly it seemed to Anna as if all the lights in the theatre had been put out.
"Stagno sang divinely," said Stella Martini.
"Yes," responded Laura. "But didn't it strike you that he rather exaggerated?"
"No, I can't say it did."
Anna did not hear; her eyes were closed.
There was a rumour in the house of moving people; there was a sound of opening and closing doors. Fans fluttered, men changed their seats, people went and came, many of the stalls were empty. The round of visits had begun. Husbands and brothers left their boxes to make place for other men beside their wives and sisters; to pay their respects to other men's wives and sisters. There was a babble of many voices idly chatting. It began in the first and second tiers, and it rose to the galleries, the stronghold of students, workmen, and clerks.
Anna gazed sadly at that deserted box below her.
All at once she heard Laura say, "Luigi Caracciolo and Cesare Dias are with the Contessa d'Alemagna."