triumph surge round him, a vague sense of
resentment rose up in him against the possibilities of the morrow. He
would have preferred to face it to-day and get it over, that he might
enjoy a double victory and then taste the fruit offered to him by the
hand of Ippolita Albonico. He was possessed, for the moment, by that
inexplicable intoxication which results--with certain men of
intellect--from the exercise of their physical powers, the experience of
their courage and the revelation of their inherent brutality. The
substratum of primitive ferocity which exists at the bottom of most of
us rushes to the surface, on occasion, with curious vehemence, and under
the skin-deep varnish of modern civilisation, our hearts swell sometimes
with a nameless sanguinary fury, and visions of carnage rise up before
us. Inhaling the hot and acrid exhalations of his horse, Andrea Sperelli
felt that none of the delicate perfumes affected by him up till now, had
ever afforded him such intense enjoyment.

He had scarcely quitted the saddle, before he found himself surrounded
by friends of both sexes, eager to congratulate him. Mallecho, breathing
hard, smoking and covered with foam, snorted and stretched his neck,
shaking the bridle. His sides rose and fell with a deep continuous
movement, as if they must burst; his muscles vibrated under skin like a
bow-string after the shot; his eyes, dilated and bloodshot, had the
cruel glare of those of a beast of prey; his coat, now showing great
patches of darker colour, ran down with rivulets of perspiration. The
incessant trembling of his whole body was pitiable to see, like the
suffering of a human being.

'Poor fellow!' murmured one of the ladies.

Andrea examined his knees to see if he had taken any hurt from his fall.
They were sound. Then patting him softly on the neck, he said in an
indefinable tone of gentleness--'Go, Mallecho, go----'

And he followed him with his eyes till he disappeared.

Directly he had changed his clothes, he went in search of Ludovico
Barbarisi and the Baron di Santa Margherita.

Both instantly accepted the office of arranging preliminaries with
Rutolo. He begged them to hasten matters as much as possible.

'Fix it all by this evening. To-morrow by one o'clock I absolutely must
be free. But let me sleep till nine to-morrow morning. I dine with the
Ferentinos, then I shall look in at the Palazzo Giustiniani, and after
that I shall go to the Club, but it will be late