“If to give you up is the necessary penalty for the sorrow I have brought to you,” he said, quietly, his voice breaking as he spoke, “it shall be done—for your sake, no matter what it means to me; but my love for you is beyond anything I have ever known before.”
XXIX
There had been many visitors at the villa during Armstrong’s illness and convalescence. Cerini had called several times, being most solicitous for the speedy recovery of his protégé; and the Contessa Morelli, temporarily thwarted in the solution of her problem, took advantage of the proximity of her villa to be frequently on the spot, where she could observe the progress of affairs under the suddenly changed conditions.
Armstrong had long desired to question the contessa further in regard to the disquieting conversation he had held with her upon the occasion of their first meeting; but the rapidity with which his latent impressions had become definite realities made him unwilling to allow any new developments to add to the complexity of the situation as he had now come to know it. After his interview with Helen, however, he was convinced that matters had reached their climax, and he grasped any additional information as possible material to be used in the solving of his double dilemma. His opportunity came on the following day, when he found himself alone with the contessa upon the veranda, Helen having been called to another part of the villa by some household demand.
After Helen had made her excuses, Armstrong felt himself to be the subject of a careful scrutiny on the part of the contessa. He looked up quickly and met her glance squarely. Amélie had a way of making those she chose feel well acquainted with her, and Armstrong, during his convalescence, had proved interesting.
“Well,” he asked, smiling, “what do you think of him?”
It was the contessa’s turn to smile, and the question caught her so unexpectedly that the smile developed into a hearty laugh.
“I have been trying to make up my mind,” she replied, frankly. “At first I thought him a human thinking-machine, all head and no heart, but I am beginning to believe that my early impressions were at fault.”