"I think it would be well if you were to return to the castle."
"It is not far. I know a short way through the wood. We can lead the horses."
"Very well," returned the countess, submissively. But when she looked at her dress and saw how it was fastened a hot blush covered her face. When she was in the shade of the wood she turned to Ivan, and said, suddenly, "Have you ever heard of Julia Gonzaga?"
"No, countess."
"She was the Chatelaine of Fondi. Barbarossa had surprised Fondi in the night and carried off Julia. A noble knight came to her rescue, and she escaped with him from the freebooter. It was in the night, and she had to ride barefooted, for she had just risen from her couch. Do you know how she rewarded her deliverer? She stabbed him through the heart with the first dagger that came to her hand."
"And she did right," returned Ivan. "A strange man should not have seen her naked feet."
"And the man?" asked Angela.
"Ah, poor fellow! he had the misfortune of enjoying too much happiness."