"Dear me! How shocking!" exclaimed the Prince. "So old Giuseppe has actually seen that!"
"Often," replied Adele, with conviction. "But then, after all--so many men drink. If it were not for Laura--poor Laura!"
"Poor Laura,--yes, as I said, it is no wonder if she has fallen in love with Francesco--such a handsome fellow, too! She has shown good taste, at least." The Prince laughed gently. "At all events, you are not jealous, Adele; I can see that."
"I?" exclaimed Adele, with indignant scorn. "No, indeed!"
Gerano began to feel his pockets, as though searching for something he could not find. Then he rang the bell at his elbow.
"I have forgotten my cigarettes, my dear, I must have left them in my coat," he said.
The old butler answered his summons in person, for Gerano knew the usage of the house and had pressed the button three times, unnoticed by Adele, which meant that Giuseppe was wanted.
"I have left my cigarettes in my coat, Giuseppe," said the Prince. Then as the man turned to go, he called him back. "Giuseppe!"
"I want you to do a little commission for me. I have a little surprise for Donna Laura, and I do not want her to know where it comes from. It must be placed on her table, do you see? Now Donna Adele tells me that you are very intimate with Lord Herbert's Scotch servant--"
"I, Excellency?" Giuseppe was very much astonished.
"Yes--the man with sandy grey hair, and a big nose, and a red face--a most excellent servant, who has been with Lord Herbert since he was a child. Donna Adele says you know him very well--"
"Her Excellency must be mistaken. It must have been some other servant who told her. I never saw the man."
"You said Giuseppe, did you not?" asked the Prince very blandly, and turning to Adele. She bit her lip in silence. "Never mind," he continued. "It is a misunderstanding, and I will manage the surprise in quite another way. My cigarettes, Giuseppe."
The man went out, and Adele and the Prince sat without exchanging a word, until he returned with the case, Gerano all the time looking very gentle. When the servant was gone a second time, the Prince's expression changed suddenly, and he spoke in a stern voice.
"Now that you have sufficiently disgraced yourself, my daughter, you will begin to make reparation at once," he said.