there
for a moment hesitating.

The long restaurant was lit up, and from it came the sound of
music--guitars, and a voice singing. She recognized the throaty tenor of
the blind man raised in a spurious and sickly rapture:

"Sa-anta-a Lu-u-ci-ia! Santa Luci--a!"

It recalled her sharply to the night of the storm. For a moment she
felt again the strange, the unreasonable sense of fear, indefinable but
harsh, which had come upon her then, as fear comes suddenly sometimes
upon a child.

Then she stepped into the restaurant.

As on the other night, there were but few people dining there, and they
were away at the far end of the big room. Near them stood the musicians
under a light--seedy, depressed; except the blind man, who lifted his
big head, rolled his tongue, and swelled and grew scarlet in an effort
to be impressive.

Hermione sat down at the first table.

For a moment no one saw her. She heard men's voices talking loudly and
gayly, the clatter of plates, the clink of knives and forks. She looked
round for the visitors' book. If it were lying near she thought she
would open it, search for what Emile had written, and then slip away at
once unobserved.

There was a furtive spirit within her to-night.

But she could not see the book; so she sat still, listening to the blind
man and gazing at the calm sea just below her. A boat was waiting there.
She could see the cushions, which were white and looked ghastly in the
darkness, the dim form of the rower standing up to search for clients.

"Barca! Barca!"

He had seen her.

She drew back a little. As she did so her chair made a grating noise,
and instantly the sharp ears of the Padrone caught a sound betokening
the presence of a new-comer in his restaurant. It might be a queen, an
empress! Who could tell?

With his stiff yet alert military gait, he at once came marching down
towards her, staring hard with his big, bright eyes. When he saw who it
was he threw up his brown hands.

"The Signora of the storm!" he exclaimed. He moved as if about to turn
around. "I must tell--"

But Hermione stopped him with a quick, decisive gesture.

"One moment, Signore."

The Padrone approached aristocratically.

"The Marchese Isidoro Panacci is here dining with friends, the Duca
di--"

"Yes, yes. But I am only here for a moment, so it is not worth while to
tell the Marchese."

"You are not going to dine, Signora! The food of Frisio does not please
you!"

He ca