"He is a very old, old man, and he looks as if fever and ague every summer and autumn had pretty nearly made an end of him. He seemed quite inclined to be civil and obliging. If he were not, you could knock him down with a tap of your maulstick, I should think, though it be wielded by such a tiny, dainty little bit of a hand," said Ludovico, lifting it to his lips between both his as he spoke. "And now tell me," he continued; "what did you think of the third act last night? Did she not sing that finale superbly?" "Superbly,--certainly the finest singing I heard. But--" "What is the 'but,' anima mia? I confess I thought it perfect." "So I suppose it was. But I think that perhaps I should have had more pleasure in hearing a less magnificent singer, who was more simpatica to me. I can't help it, but I do not like her; and I am sure I can't tell why. I have no reason; but do you know, Ludovico mio, there was one moment when, strange as it may seem, our eyes met--hers and mine--in the theatre last night. It was just as she turned away from your box, when you had put the bouquet into her hand. She looked up, and our eyes met; and I can't tell you the strange feeling and impression that her look made upon me. And I am quite sure that, for some unaccountable reason or other, she does not like me. She looked at me--it was only half a moment with a sort of mocking triumph and hatred in her eyes, that quite made me shudder and turn cold. "If it were not so entirely impossible, I should think you were jealous, my little Paolina. If I were to--what shall we say?--if I were to set out on a journey with la Diva, tete-a-tete, to travel from here to Rome, should you be jealous?" "With La Bianca?" "Yes! with La Bianca." "I don't know. I don't think that I should in earnest. I know in my inmost heart, my own love, that you love me truly and entirely; I feel it, I am sure of it. But all the same, I should rather that you did not travel from here to Rome alone with La Lalli." "That means that, to a certain degree, you are jealous, little one. Do you think I should be uneasy if you were called on to travel under the escort, for example, of our friend the Conte Leandro?" "The Conte Leandro!" cried Paolina, laughing, "I am sure you ought to be uneasy at the bare thought of such a thing, for you know how terrible it would be to me. But is it quite the same thing, amico mio? La Lalli is indisputably a very beautiful woman; and the Conte Leandro is--the Conte Leandro. But it is not that she is beautiful. I don't know what it is. There is something about her--ecco, I should not the least mind now your travelling to the world's end, or being occupied in any other way, with the Contessa Violante." "She is not a beautiful woman, certainly."