"I shall be very sorry," she replied; "yes, really, Lelio, I shall regret it; for Nasi is an excellent fellow, he has a big heart. I will bet that I shall weep for--I don't know how long! But after all, one either has a destiny or one hasn't. If it is God's will that I go to France, it would seem to be because I am likely to have no more luck in Italy. If I am parted from that dear, affectionate lover of mine, I have no doubt that it is because a more devoted and more courageous man is waiting yonder for me, to marry me, and prove to the world that love is superior to all prejudices. Mark my words, Lelio, I shall be a princess, perhaps a queen. An old fortune-teller of Malamocco predicted it in my horoscope when I was only four years old, and I have always believed it: a proof that it must be so!" "A conclusive proof," I rejoined, "an unanswerable argument! Queen of Barataria, I salute you!" "What is Barataria? Is it Cimarosa's new opera?" "No, it is the name of the star that presides over your destiny." We arrived at Cafaggiolo and did not find Nasi there. "Your star is waning, fortune is abandoning you," I said to the girl from Chioggia. She bit her lips and replied at once, with a smile: "There is always a mist on the lagoons before sunrise. In any event we must keep up our strength and so be prepared for the blows of destiny." As she spoke, she took her seat at the table and ate almost the whole of a pope's eye stuffed with truffles; after which she slept twelve hours without a break, passed three hours at her toilet, and sparkled with wit and nonsense until evening. Nasi did not appear.