Blanden sprang from the sofa, and stepped defiantly towards the intruder.
"Has this gentleman the right to intrude here?" he asked Giulia.
"No--by heaven, no! Only by force or cunning can he have obtained admission. Protect me from him!"
Giulia covered her face with her hands.
"Your conduct is shameless, sir!" cried Blanden to the officer.
"Not another word with you! But one word still with this lady, who has deceived us all; I owe it to the favour of chance that I have torn from her the mask with which she has passed before the world as an inexorable woman."
"You shall leave the room this moment," said Blanden with firm determination, "I have the right to bid you do so, because Signora Giulia Bollini--is engaged to me!"
With a loud cry, Giulia sank into the sofa cushions.
"Well, then, I congratulate you upon the Polter-abend,"[[1]] said Buschmann scornfully, as he turned upon his heels and left the room amid the clatter of his spurs.
"What have you done?" said Giulia, as she gazed at Blanden with large tearful eyes, her hand raised as if in protest, and sobbing with internal agitation.