Nothing is done
here except to keep us from boiling over."

"Why does not Count Ammiani come to Rome?" said Merthyr.

"Why are we not all in Rome? Yes, why! why! We should make a carnival of
our own if we were."

"She would have escaped that horrible knife," Merthyr sighed.

"Yes, she would have escaped that horrible knife. But see the difference
between Milan and Rome, my friend! It was a blessed knife here. It has
given her husband back to her; it has destroyed the intrigues against
her. It seems to have been sent--I was kneeling in the cathedral this
morning, and had the very image crossing my eyes--from the saints of
heaven to cut the black knot. Perhaps it may be the means of sending us
to Rome."

Laura paused, and, looking at him, said, "It is so utterly impossible
for us women to comprehend love without folly in a man; the trait by
which we recognize it! Merthyr, you dear Englishman, you shall know
everything. Do we not think a tisane a weak washy drink, when we are
strong? But we learn, when we lie with our chins up, and our ten toes
like stopped organ-pipes--as Sandra says--we learn then that it means
fresh health and activity, and is better than rivers of your fiery
wines. You love her, do you not?"

The question came with great simplicity.

"If I can give a proof of it, I am ready to answer," said Merthyr, in
some surprise.

"Your whole life is the proof of it. The women of your country are
intolerable to me, Merthyr: but I do see the worth of the men. Sandra
has taught me. She can think of you, talk of you, kiss the vision of
you, and still be a faithful woman in our bondage of flesh; and to us
you know what a bondage it is: How can that be? I should have asked, if
I had not seen it. Dearest, she loves her husband, and she loves you.
She has two husbands, and she turns to the husband of her spirit when
that, or any, dagger strikes her bosom. Carlo has an unripe mind. They
have been married but a little more than four months; and he reveres
her and loves her.".... Laura's voice dragged. "Multiply the months by
thousands, we shall not make those two lives one. It is the curse of
man's education in Italy? He can see that she has wits and courage. He
will not consent to make use of them. You know her: she is not one to
talk of these things. She, who has both heart and judgement--she is
merely a little boat tied to a big ship. Such is their marriage. She
cannot influence him. She is not allowed to advis