Only this one question: Can a modest maiden talk of her with you without disgrace ?" "Certainly, if you do not shrink from speaking of a noble lady who had no other protector than herself." "And you, don't forget yourself!" cried Henrica, leaving the room.
The musician walked thoughtfully towards home.

Was Isabella a relative of this young girl?
He had told Henrica almost all he knew of her external circumstances, and this perhaps gave the former the same right to call her an adventuress, that many in Rome had assumed.

The word wounded him, and Henrica's inquiry whether he loved the stranger disturbed him, and appeared intrusive and unseemly.

Yes, he had felt an ardent love for her; ay, he had suffered deeply because he was no more to her than a pleasant companion and reliable friend.

It had cost him struggles enough to conceal his feelings, and he knew, that but for the dread of repulse and scorn, he would have yielded and revealed them to her.