It would have been too absurd and remarkable for La Bianca to have abstained from dancing and attached herself to him in the ball-room, instead of consorting with the younger folks.

Of course that was entirely out of the question.

But none the less for that was the evening a time of cruel suffering and martyrdom to the Marchese.

Of course he believed that the adoption of so singularly similar a costume by Bianca and his nephew was the result of pre-arranged agreement.

And the thought, and all that his embittered fancy built upon the thought, were making everything around him, and all the prospect of his life before him, utterly intolerable to him.
Ludovico and Bianca had been dancing together for the third time--a waltz fast and furious, which they had kept up almost incessantly till the music had ceased.