Benedetto said nothing at the moment, but when di Leyni was gone he sent for the Professor.

The Professor was not in, he had been obliged to go to the University.

The sister's words had made Benedetto form a definite resolution, which he had been thinking about ever since the first light of day had shown him the walls of the room, decorated with mythological subjects, in the style of the House of Livia.

He longed with an intense longing for his little old room.

There he would see his friends, the common people, who wished to visit him, and that other person, if she came.