"Nor is it possible! The pleasure was entirely on my side! You lived then in such sunshine of bliss that you did not notice the two shadows in the background, which hastened quickly past you."
Blanden, while he walked shiveringly along through the chilly evening air, meditated vainly what connection there could have been between Baluzzi and himself during his stay by Lago Maggiore.
What did those peculiar looks signify, which he suddenly assumed? What should the remarkable emphasis mean which he gave to his words--yes, the enmity which gleamed in his features--in his whole demeanour?
After mature reflection, Blanden came to the conclusion that he must have been mistaken if he sought to ascribe any special importance to a chance meeting.
But when Blanden had left the room, the Italian rubbed his hands together with scornful satisfaction.
"Now I, too, shall learn," said he to himself, "what has become of her, and my old receipts will flow in once more."
CHAPTER VI.
[ON LAND AND SEA.]
A sparkling, dewy morning made Warnicken, that jewel of the Samland coast, glisten with double brilliancy.
Blanden stood beneath the oaks of the precipitous declivity of the Fuchs-spitze. Impatiently he followed the slowly rising course of the sun and the shadows gradually moving aside.