"And when will the sixth time be?" I asked him.
"Immediately," he said. "When the procession returns."
"But, Ercole, is this tolerable?" I objected. "Is it humane to Donna
Domenica?"
Virginia turned upon me here. "To her?" she cried fiercely. "To her?
Why, what else could she do? What else should I—should any woman do?"
Immediately she had said this, I could see that she wished she had not.
She blushed and hung her head.
"It is not too easy," said Ercole, "but it was best under the circumstances. Imagine her in the arms of a man! It is not conceivable. On the other hand, one is not jealous of the Cross; and she knows that I should not come to see her if I had not been faithful."
"And you have spoken—"
"For what do you take me? I have never spoken to her more than once in the garden, or at a less distance than ten braccia—except when I touched her hand. Also I used to say Vieni! and she came; but no more."
"But when she was asked in marriage, and you forbade it?"
"Then she told me herself that she supposed I wished her to take the veil, and I nodded my head."
I was forced to admit his strength of purpose. "You are a great lover, "I said, "that is certain. I am a lover also—but not at all in your way."