As she grew calmer, she thought more clearly; and she found that the afternoon’s experience, horrible as it was, held some leaven—­Giovanni’s behavior stirred her deeply.  She had realized the power of his muscles under his slight build before—­when he had held the Great Dane’s throat in his grip—­and she had seen his flexibility, in turning instantaneously from fury to suavity.  Yet his masterful attack upon her assailant, followed by his sympathy and comprehension on the way home, thrilled her as with a revelation of unguessed capacities.  John Derby could not have come to her rescue better, nor could she have felt more protected and calmed with her childhood’s friend at her side in the carriage, than with this alien of a foreign race.

She went into her dressing-room and bathed her eyes and cheeks in cold water.  Then, thinking the princess must surely have returned by this time, she decided to go into the drawing-room.  On her way she met her aunt coming toward her, followed closely by Giovanni, who put his finger on his lips, just as the princess exclaimed, “Nina, my child, what happened to you?  You did very wrong to run off home alone.  I can’t understand your having done such a thing.  It was not only ill-mannered, but it put you in a very questionable light.”

Over the princess’s shoulder Giovanni was making an unmistakable demand for silence.  “I’m very sorry,” Nina faltered—­Giovanni was looking at her intensely, pleadingly, his finger on his lips—­“but I—­never felt like that before.  I got terribly—­nervous, and I felt that if I did not get away from that house I should go mad.”  Even the recollection made Nina look so distraught that her aunt’s indignation turned to anxiety, and she put her arm around the girl and led her into the drawing-room.

“It is not like you, dear, to lose control of yourself,” she said tenderly, and then, as she scrutinized Nina’s face in the better light, she added:  “You do look white, darling.  You had better lie down here on the sofa.  I think I will prepare you some tea of camomile,” and then, with a final touch of gentle admonition, she added, “We must not have any more such scenes!” Nina hoped for a chance to ask Giovanni why she might not tell the princess what had happened, but the latter did not leave the room.  Having sent for the camomile flowers, she made Nina a cup of tea, and the subject of the afternoon’s occurrence was dropped.

CHAPTER XXIV

WEIGHED IN THE BALANCE

All that evening Nina was tense and nervous, not only because of her experience at the Palazzo Scorpa, but because of something portentous in Giovanni’s unexplained demand for silence.  He was not at the same dinner party with her, but she went on to a dance at the Marchese Valdeste’s, feeling sure that she would have a chance to speak with him there.  He always danced with her several times during a ball, and, as he was not very much taller than she, she could easily talk to him without danger of any one’s overhearing.