She entered the room to which the interesting invalid had been carried. As she approached the couch Ascanio opened his eyes. "It was nothing," said Master André to the duchess. "The young man has received a wound in the shoulder, and fatigue, some mental shock, or hunger, it may be, caused a momentary faintness, from which he has completely recovered, as you see, by the use of cordials. He is fully restored now, and may safely be taken home in a litter." "Very good," said the duchess, handing a purse to Master André, who bowed low and went out. "Where am I?" said Ascanio, seeking to collect his thoughts. "You are with me, at my home, Ascanio," the duchess replied. "At your home, madame? Ah! yes, I recognize you; you are Madame d'Etampes, and I remember too--Where is Benvenuto? Where is my master?" "Do not stir, Ascanio; your master is safe, never fear. He is dining peaceably at home at the present moment." "But how does it happen that he left me here?" "You lost consciousness, and he trusted you to my care." "And you assure me, madame, that he is in no danger; that he went from here unharmed?" "I tell you again, I promise you, Ascanio, that he has never been less exposed to danger than at this moment. Ungrateful boy, when I, Duchesse d'Etampes, am watching over him and caring for him with the tender solicitude of a sister, to persist in speaking of his master!" "O madame, I pray you pardon me, and accept my thanks!" said Ascanio. "Indeed, it's high time!" rejoined the duchess, shaking her pretty head with a sly smile. Thereupon she began to speak, giving to every word a tender intonation, and to the simplest phrases the subtlest of meanings, asking every question greedily and at the same time with respect, and listening to every reply as if her destiny depended upon it. She was humble, soft and caressing as a cat, quick to grasp every cue, like a consummate actress, leading Ascanio gently back to the subject if he wandered from it, and giving him all the credit for ideas which she evolved and cunningly led up to; seeming to distrust herself, and listening to him as if he were an oracle; exerting to the utmost the cultivated, charming intellect which, as we have said, caused her to be called the loveliest of blue-stockings and the most learned of beauties. In short, this interview became in her hands the most cajoling flattery, and the cleverest of seductions. As the youth for the third or fourth time made ready to take his leave, she said, still detaining him:-- "You speak, Ascanio, with so much eloquence and fire of your goldsmith's art, that it is a perfect revelation to me, and henceforth I shall see the conception of a master where I have hitherto seen only an ornament. In your opinion Benvenuto is the great master of the art?" "Madame, he has surpassed the divine Michel-Angelo himself." "I am pleased to hear it. You lessen the ill will I bear him on account of his rude behavior to me.