“Rather! It was a gem; and the one with the little girl at the piano?”
“Yes, but think of the dreadful model,” said Miss Jahrman—“that fat, middle-aged, fair one, you know. And he always pretended to be so virtuous.”
“He was,” said Heggen.
“Pugh! And I was on the verge of falling in love with him just because of that.”
“Oh! That of course puts it in another light.”
“He proposed to me lots of times,” said Francesca pensively, “and I had decided to say yes, but fortunately I had not done it yet.”
“If you had,” said Heggen, “you would never have seen him with that model on his knee.”
The expression on Francesca’s face changed completely; for a second a shadow of melancholy passed over her soft features.
“Nonsense! You are all alike. I don’t believe one of you. Per Bacco!”
“You must not think that, Francesca,” said Ahlin, lifting his head for a moment from his hand.