But when I have taken breath I will tell you what he and Hedwig said to each other at the gate, and whether at the last she went with him, or stayed in dismal Fillettino for her father’s sake.

CHAPTER XXI

“Let us sit upon the step and talk,” said Hedwig, gently disengaging herself from his arms.

“The hour is advancing, and it is damp here, my love.  You will be cold,” said Nino, protesting against delay as best he could.

“No; and I must talk to you.”  She sat down, but Nino pulled off his cloak and threw it round her.  She motioned him to sit beside her, and raised the edge of the heavy mantle with her hand.  “I think it is big enough,” said she.

“I think so,” returned Nino; and so the pair sat side by side and hand in hand, wrapped in the same garment, deep in the shadow of the rocky doorway.  “You got my letter, dearest?” asked Nino, hoping to remind her of his proposal.

“Yes, it reached me safely.  Tell me, Nino, have you thought of me in all this time?” she asked, in her turn; and there was the joy of the answer already in the question.

“As the earth longs for the sun, my love, through all the dark night.  You have never been out of my thoughts.  You know that I went away to find you in Paris, and I went to London, too; and everywhere I sang to you, hoping you might be somewhere in the great audiences.  But you never went to Paris at all.  When I got Professor Grandi’s letter saying that he had discovered you, I had but one night more to sing, and then I flew to you.”

“And now you have found me,” said Hedwig, looking lovingly up to him through the shadow.

“Yes, dear one; and I have come but just in time.  You are in great trouble now, and I am here to save you from it all.  Tell me, what is it all about?”

“Ah, Nino dear, it is very terrible.  My father declared I must marry Baron Benoni, or end my days here, in this dismal castle.”  Nino ground his teeth, and drew her even closer to him, so that her head rested on his shoulder.

“Infamous wretch!” he muttered.

“Hush, Nino,” said Hedwig gently; “he is my father.”

“Oh, I mean Benoni, of course,” exclaimed Nino quickly.

“Yes, dear, of course you do,” Hedwig responded.  “But my father has changed his mind.  He no longer wishes me to marry the Jew.”

“Why is that, sweetheart?”

“Because Benoni was very rude to me to-day, and I told my father, who said he should leave the house at once.”

“I hope he will kill the hound!” cried Nino, with rising anger.  “And I am glad your father has still the decency to protect you from insult.”

“My father is very unkind, Nino mio, but he is an officer and a gentleman.”

“Oh, I know what that means,—­a gentleman!  Fie on your gentleman!  Do you love me less, Hedwig, because I am of the people?”