CHAPTER XXXIII
When Hermione reached the door of the Casa del Mare she did not go in immediately, but waited on the step. The door was open. There was a dim lamp burning in the little hall, which was scarcely more than a passage. She looked up and saw a light shining from the window of her sitting-room. She listened; there was no sound of voices.
They were not in there.
She was trying to crush down her sense of outrage, to feel calm before she entered the house.
Perhaps they had gone into the garden. The night was terribly hot. They would prefer to be out-of-doors. Vere loved the garden. Or they might be on the terrace.
She stepped into the hall and went to the servants’ staircase. Now she herd voices, a laugh.
“Giulia!” she called.
The voices stopped talking, but it was Gaspare who came in answer to her call. She looked down to him.
“Don’t come up, Gaspare. Where is the Signorina?”
“The Signorina is on the terrace, Signora—with Don Emilio.”