e had
already, some time before, been conscious that his attentions were not
wanted, but it was only on the part of the other ladies that he
noticed any repugnance to himself. On Minnie's part he had not seen
any. In spite of their graciousness and their desire not to hurt his
feelings, they had not been able to avoid showing that, while they
felt grateful for his heroism in the rescue of Minnie, they could not
think of giving her to him. They had manoeuvred well enough to get rid
of him, but Girasole had also manoeuvred on his part to find them
again. He had fallen off from them at first when he saw that they were
determined on effecting this; but after allowing a sufficient time to
elapse, he had no difficulty in tracking them, and finding them at
Naples, as we have seen.

But here he made one or two discoveries.

One was that Minnie already had an accepted lover in the person of
Lord Hawbury. The lofty superciliousness of the British nobleman
seemed to Girasole to be the natural result of his position, and it
seemed the attitude of the successful lover toward the rejected
suitor.

The other discovery was that Minnie herself was more pleased with the
attentions of the English lord than with his own. This was now
evident, and he could not help perceiving that his difficulties were
far more formidable from the presence of such a rival.

But Girasole was not easily daunted. In the first place, he had
unbounded confidence in his own fascinations; in the second place, he
believed that he had a claim on Minnie that no other could equal, in
the fact that he had saved her life; in the third place, apart from
the question of love, he believed her to be a prize of no common
value, whose English gold would be welcome indeed to his Italian need
and greed; while, finally, the bitter hate with which Lord Hawbury had
inspired him gave an additional zest to the pursuit, and made him
follow after Minnie with fresh ardor.

Once or twice after this he called upon them. On the first occasion
only Lady Dalrymple was visible. On the second, none of the ladies
were at home. He was baffled, but not discouraged. Returning from his
call, he met Minnie and Mrs. Willoughby. Hawbury was with them, riding
beside Minnie. The ladies bowed, and Girasole, as before, coolly
turned his horse and rode by the carriage, talking with Mrs.
Willoughby, and trying to throw at Minnie what he intended to be
impassioned glances. But Minnie would not look a