"The signore has not come back yet. He is a little late."
Lucrezia came to the top of the steps.
"Where can the signore be, signora?" she said. "It only takes—"
Her voice died suddenly away. Hermione looked quickly at Gaspare, and saw that he was gazing ferociously at Lucrezia as if to bid her be silent.
"Gaspare!" Hermione said, suddenly getting up.
"Signora?"
"I—it's odd the signore's not coming."
The boy answered nothing.
"Perhaps—perhaps there really has been an—an accident."
She tried to speak lightly.