'Did his lordship not come home last night?' she asked with pretended carelessness.
'He did come in, but he went out very soon again,' answered the servant.
'He did not go to bed, I think,' she said in a low voice, casting down her eyes.
'No, my lady, he did not,' said old Giovanni.
Margherita came up just then; she said something hurriedly to her husband, who agreed to it, and vanished into the kitchen.
'I asked Giovanni to draw the bucket of water from the well this morning,' the old waiting-woman said. 'I am not strong enough to-day.'
'Poor thing! it tires you too much,' Bianca Maria remarked compassionately, her eyes full of tears.
'I am rather old, but I could do anything for you,' said the faithful one in a motherly voice. 'But I don't know what has come to the bucket this morning; it is so heavy I can't pull it up. I begged Giovanni, who is stronger than I am, to take my place.'
Both went away from there, because Margherita held to the honour of combing out Bianca Maria's thick black tresses. But Giovanni came and interrupted the combing. He called his wife out, not daring to come in, and they chattered together some time, while Bianca Maria waited, her black hair loose over her white wrapper. Margherita came back in disorder; the comb shook in her hand.
'What is the matter?' asked Bianca Maria.