During the conversation, I had become increasingly aware of the disturbance that my presence was creating. Groups of maidens passed and repassed, gazing at me with undisguised curiosity and admiration, until becoming bolder they remained in a whispering group gazing up at me. Whether a certain license was permitted at these affairs or whether Acquilla was moved by a sense of pride in a coveted possession, she made no effort to dispel these inquisitive groupings. I sustained this persistent admiration with as indifferent a countenance as possible until I noticed that the attraction I exerted was arousing the evident displeasure of the young males, who from their furious glances and mutterings seemed to regard my presence as an unwarranted intrusion. This attitude became so noticeable that I said hastily to Acquilla: “My dear Acquilla, though a man of a certain vanity, I am unfortunately afflicted with a little modesty and as, after all, I am not on parade, couldn’t we leave the field to its rightful possessors?” Acquilla rose and offering her arm drew me through the crowd which in response to a peremptory gesture, immediately dissolved and left us free. We passed thus, through this curiously inverted throng of lovers and arrived at the grove of the Histriones, where unfortunately my presence created an even greater disturbance. Dulcina and Carrilla came hurriedly forward and embraced me with a warmth that was noticeably displeasing to Acquilla. I searched feverishly for my lovely Dianne and discovered her at length, in a farther group, devouring me with her ardent gaze. She laid her fingers on her lips, to signal to me to be patient, and I understood that, fearful of betraying her passion before Acquilla, she preferred to remain in the background. The young males of the first year, were at this moment performing a ballet with the evident intention of attracting the attention of the most famous of the Histriones, and truth compels me to admit that in the grace of their flying movement, they surpassed any ballet that I had previously witnessed. The attention of the charming Histriones, which had been fixed on the _premiers danseurs_, was quite naturally diverted to me. The result was disastrous. The entire chorus, aware of the sudden relaxation in the attention of the audience, stopped, began to whisper and abruptly abandoned the scene. Before I could make my apologies for this regrettable interruption, a messenger approached Acquilla and summoned her to what I learned afterwards, was a suddenly convoked meeting of the Supreme Council. To leave me with the Histriones was extremely distasteful, but the summons being of a peremptory nature, she was forced to make the best of it. Hardly had she disappeared, when Dianne seized my hand, and drawing me out of the crowd, led me into a shady grotto. “I have only a moment to warn you,” she said hastily, “but the Council has been convoked on your account.”