The conquest of Rome

by Matilde Serao

'I have sad tidings to tell you, my friend,' she continued, with her beautiful, sympathetic voice.

'Not to-day, not to-day—to-morrow—another day——'

'Better to-day than to-morrow,' she interposed, settling her lovely, mild eyes upon the Villa Borghese gardens. 'You must have courage.'

'I have none, none at all——'

'You must,' she insisted, 'in order to be at peace with your conscience.'

And with a shiver she wrapped her little fur pelisse about her, since they were passing close to the sombre, chilly region of the Villa Medici.

'Conscience, conscience!' he exclaimed rebelliously. 'And what of love?'

'We must not love,' she said sententiously.

'And why not?'