She could hardly believe it. So unsuitable seemed such a dwelling to that bright-eyed child of the sea, whom she had always seen surrounded by the wide airs and the waters.
“Si, Signora. They are on the third floor. Shall I take you up?”
Hermione hesitated. Should she go up alone?
“Please show me the way,” she said, deciding.
Fabiano preceded her up a dirty stone staircase, dark and full of noises, till they came to the third floor.
“It is here, Signora!”
He knocked loudly on a door. It was opened very quickly, as if by some one who was on the watch, expectant of an arrival.
“Chi e?” cried a female voice.
And, almost simultaneously, a woman appeared with eyes that stared in inquiry.
By these eyes, their shape, and the long, level brows above them, Hermione knew that this woman must be Ruffo’s mother.