The American princess towered in slim height above the stolid dumpiness of the duchess. From appearance one would never have guessed rightly which of the two women could trace her lineage for over a thousand years.
The mouth of the duchess went down hard in the corners, and her dull, turtle eyes contracted, then her lips snapped open to answer, but Giovanni again saved her the trouble. “I met Scorpa on the street about ten minutes ago. He was going toward the Circolo d’Acacia.”
“Ah yes, Todo was filled with regret, as he wanted to show Miss Randolph the portraits,” haltingly echoed the duchess, but she glanced uneasily at the door. “I was glad he did not see her indisposition—he has a heart as tender as a woman’s, and it would have distressed him greatly! I do hope, princess, that you will find her quite recovered on your return. I think it must be the effect of sirocco.”
The other guests supported her in chorus. “The sirocco is very treacherous,” ventured one. “She was perhaps not acclimatized to Rome,” said a second. “I thought she looked pale,” chimed a third.
The princess made her adieus at once and, followed by Giovanni, left the palace. For a few minutes the various groups, disposed about the Scorpa drawing-room, conversed in low whispers, but by the time the Sanseveros were well out of earshot the duchess had turned to the whispering groups with a hauteur of expression conveying quite plainly that it was not to be endured that a Sansevero, born American, should imply a criticism of a Duchess Scorpa, born Orsonna.
“A headstrong young barbarian from the United States is quite beyond my control,” she shrugged. “How can I help it if she chooses to run from the palace, like Cinderella when the clock strikes twelve!”
One or two of those present who were friends of the Princess Sansevero may have resented the implied slight to her democratic birth. But though there was a vague appreciation of something beneath the surface in this American girl’s sudden departure, there was nothing to which any one could take exception.
The Contessa Potensi, however, had long waited for just such an opportunity, and seized it. “I felt sorry for Eleanor Sansevero,” she said sweetly. “It puts her in an unendurable position to have to defend such a person. Naturally she has to defend her, since she is her niece. I am sure she did not want her for the winter—but her parents would not keep her. It is no wonder they would be willing to give her a big dot!”
There was general excitement. “What do you know?” the company cried in chorus. “Tell us about it!”
But the Potensi at once became very discreet. For nothing would she take away a young girl’s character. Besides, Eleanor Sansevero was one of her best friends—it would not be loyal to say anything further. More definite information she would not disclose, but her manner left little to the imagination.