However, the nun did not refuse me hope, and when I went to see her she always made the young lady come down to the parlour. I felt that I should become attached to her in good earnest, and the governess (the nun) seemed glad of it; and yet I could not believe it possible. But one day I spoke to her of my inclination and of my timidity; she encouraged me and confided the secret to me. This young lady had good qualities and property, but there was something doubtful about her birth. ‘This little defect is nothing,’ said the veiled lady; ‘the girl is well behaved and well brought up, and I will be surety to you for her character and conduct. She has a guardian,’ she continued, ‘and he must be won over, but leave that to me. It is true that this guardian, who is very old and ruined in health, has some pretensions as to his ward, but he is wrong, and--well, as I am also interested in this--leave it to me,’ she repeated, ‘and I will manage for the best.’ I confess that after this talk, after this confidence and this encouragement, I began to think myself happy. The Signorina N. did not look unkindly on me, and I considered the matter as settled. All the convent had noticed my inclination for the pupil, and there were some young ladies who knew the intrigues of the parlour and had pity on me, and explained to me what was happening; and this is how they did it. The windows of my room were precisely opposite the belfry of the convent. In building it there had been placed in it several casements of cloudy glass through which one could vaguely make out the outlines of people who came near them. I had several times noticed at those apertures, which were oblong, both figures and gestures, and in time I was able to understand that the signs represented letters of the alphabet, and that words were formed, and that one could talk at a distance: almost every day I had half an hour of this mute conversation, in which, however, we conversed properly and decently. By means of this hand-alphabet I learned that the Signorina N. was very soon to be married to her guardian. Angry at the Signora B.’s way of acting, I went to see her during the day in the afternoon, quite determined to show her all my displeasure. She is sent for, she comes, she looks steadily at me, and perceiving that I am angry, guessing what had happened, she does not give me time to speak but is the first to attack me vigorously, with a sort of transport.