Many thanks, my dear fellows, and _a rividerci_.' He repaired to the grand stand, but avoided approaching Donna Ippolita at once.

He smiled, feeling every feminine eye upon him.

Many a fair hand was held out, many a sweet voice called him familiarly--'Andrea'-- some of them even a little ostentatiously.

The ladies who had bet upon his horses told him the amount of their winnings, others asked curiously if he were really going to fight.
It seemed to him that in one day he had reached the summit of adventurous glory.

He had come out victor in a record race, had gained the graces of a new love, magnificent and serene as a Venetian Dogaressa, had provoked a man to mortal combat and now was passing calm and courteous--but neither more so nor less than usual--amid the openly adoring smiles of all these fair women.
'See the conquering hero comes!' cried Ippolita's husband with outstretched hand and pressing Andrea's with unusual warmth.
'Yes, indeed; quite a hero!' echoed Donna Ippolita in the superficial tone of necessary compliment, affecting ignorance of the real drama.
Sperelli bowed and passed on, feeling strangely embarrassed by Albonico's excessive friendliness.