"If Calabressa were not such a talker," he said, absently. "But he has ingenuity, the feather-brained devil."
"Stefan, I could trust everything to Calabressa," she said.
"In the mean time," he said, "I will not detain you. If you remain at the same hotel we shall be able to communicate with you. I presume your carriage is outside?"
"It is waiting for us a little way off."
He accompanied them into the tessellated court-yard, but not to the gate. He bade good-bye to his elder friend; then he took the younger lady's hand and held it, and regarded her.
"Figliuola mia," he said, with a kindly glance, "I pity you if you have to suffer. We will hope for better things: if it is impossible, you have a brave heart."
When they had left he went up the marble staircase and along the empty corridor until he reached a certain room.
"Granaglia, can you tell me where our friend Calabressa may happen to be at this precise moment?"
"At Brindisi, I believe, Excellenza."