"Dionetta," she said presently, "what makes you so pale?"
"It is the Shadow, my lady, that was seen to-night," replied Dionetta in a whisper; "I cannot get it out of my mind."
"You would not have the courage to go where one was to be seen?"
"Not for all the gold in the world, my lady."
"But the other servants are more courageous?"
"They may be, but they would not dare to go; they said so to-night, all of them."
"Oh, yes; of scarcely anything else. Grandmother said to-night that if you had not come to the villa, the belief in the shadows would have died away altogether."
"That is too ridiculous," interrupted Adelaide. "What can I have to do with them?"
"If you had not come," said Dionetta, "grandmother said our young master would not be here. It is because he is in the house, sleeping here for the first night for so many, many years, that the spirit of his mother appeared to him."
"But your grandmother has told me she did not believe in the shadows."
"My lady, I think she is changing her opinion--else she would never have said what she did. It is long since I have seen her so disturbed."
Adelaide rose from her chair, the fairest picture of womanhood eyes ever gazed upon. A picture an artist would have contemplated with delight. She stood still for a few moments, her hand resting on her writing-desk.
"Your grandmother does not like me, Dionetta."
"She has not said so, my lady," said Dionetta after an awkward pause.
"Not directly, child," said Adelaide, "and I have no reason to complain of want of respect in her. But one always knows whether one is really liked or not."
"She is growing old," murmured Dionetta apologetically, "and has seen very little of ladies."
"Neither have you, child. Yet you do not dislike me."
"My lady, if I dare to say it, I love you."
"There is no daring in it, child. I love to be loved--and I would sooner be loved by the young than the old. Come here, pretty one. Your ears are like little pink shells, and deserve something better than those common rings in them. Put these in their place."
She took from a jewel-case a pair of earrings, turquoise and small diamonds, and with her own hands made the exchange.
"Oh, my lady," sighed Dionetta with a rose-light in her face. "They are too grand for me! What shall I say when people see them?"