“I have invited Professor Tesso to take tea with us to-morrow afternoon, Helen, at the villa,” said Uncle Peabody.
“By all means,” Helen urged, cordially. “We shall be so glad to welcome you there.”
The sudden exodus of the guests gave notice that something unusual was occurring below.
“It must be the arrival of the Count of Turin,” explained Uncle Peabody. “Let us descend and take a look at Italian royalty.”
With the others they entered the magnificent ball-room—a modern addition to the original villa made by Napoleon for his sister Pauline when she became Grand-Duchess of Tuscany. In the centre of the room, surrounded by his suite, stood the count, graciously receiving the guests presented to him by his host. Hither and thither among the crowd ran little flower-maidens bestowing favors upon the ladies and boutonnières upon their escorts. A few pieces of music played quietly behind a bank of palms, the low strains blending pleasantly with the hum of conversation.
As Helen and Emory stood with a few Italian friends, a little apart from the others, watching the brilliant throng, Cerini suddenly joined them. Helen had never thought of him outside the library, and it seemed to her as if one of the chained volumes had broken away from its anchorage. The old man saw the surprise in her face and smiled genially.
“I seldom come to gatherings such as this,” he explained, even before the question was put to him; “but his Highness commanded me to meet him here.” Cerini smiled again and looked into Helen’s face with undisguised admiration. “This is where you belong,” he assured her, quietly but enthusiastically—“this is your element. Do you not see that I was right that day at the library? You are even more beautiful than when I saw you before. There is a new strength in your face. You are a creation of the master-artist, like a marvellous painting which intoxicates the senses.”
Helen had no answer, but the old man continued:
“I have just left your husband and his sister-worker. They are not beautiful—they represent the wisdom which one finds in books. The world needs both, my daughter. Be content.”
And without waiting for a reply Cerini disappeared in the crowd of guests as suddenly as he had come.