"Beautiful--eh? I see you think so," whispered Donna Tullia in his ear.
The countess treated him at once as an old acquaintance, which put him at his ease, while it annoyed his conscience.
"Very beautiful," he answered, with a grave nod.
"And so mysterious," whispered the countess again, just as they reached the door of the dining-room. "She is very fascinating--take care!"
She tapped his arm familiarly with her fan and laughed, as he left her at her seat.
"What are you two laughing at?" asked Del Ferice, smiling pleasantly as he surveyed the six oysters he found upon his plate, and considered which should be left until the last as the crowning tit-bit. He was fond of good eating, and especially fond of oysters as an introduction to the feast.
"What we were laughing at? How indiscreet you are, Ugo! You always want to find out all my little secrets. Consuelo, my dear, do you like oysters, or do you not? That is the question. You do, I know--a little lemon and a very little red pepper--I love red, even to adoring cayenne!"
Orsino glanced at Madame d'Aranjuez, for he was surprised to hear Donna Tullia call her by her first name. He had not known that the two women had reached the first halting place of intimacy.
Maria Consuelo smiled rather vaguely as she took the advice in the shape of lemon juice and pepper. Del Ferice could not interrupt his enjoyment of the oysters by words, and Orsino waited for an opportunity of saying something witty.
"I have lately formed the highest opinion of the ancient Romans," said Donna Tullia, addressing him. "Do you know why?"
"Ugo tells me that in a recent excavation twenty cartloads of oyster shells were discovered behind one house. Think of that! Twenty cartloads to a single house! What a family must have lived there--indeed the Romans were a great people!"
Orsino thought that Donna Tullia herself might pass for a heroine in future ages, provided that the shells of her victims were deposited together in a safe place. He laughed politely and hoped that the conversation might not turn upon archaeology, which was not his strong point.
"I wonder how long it will be before modern Rome is excavated and the foreigner of the future pays a franc to visit the ruins of the modern house of parliament," suggested Maria Consuelo, who had said nothing as yet.