They did not talk as they went. Gaspare led the way. It was obvious that he was in great haste. Sometimes he forgot that the padrona was not so light-footed as he was, and sprang on so swiftly that she called to him to wait. When at last they came in sight of the arch Hermione and Lucrezia were panting.
"The padrone will--forgive us--when--he--sees how we have--hurried," said Hermione, laughing at her own fatigue. "Go on, Gaspare!"
She stood for a moment leaning against the arch.
"And you go quickly, Lucrezia, and get the supper. The padrone--will be--hungry after his bath."
"Si, signora."
Lucrezia went off to the back of the house. Then Hermione drew a long breath, recovered herself, and walked to the terrace.
Gaspare met her with flaming eyes.
"The padrone is not here, signora. The padrone has not come back!"
He stood and stared at her.
It was not yet very dark. They stood in a sort of soft obscurity in which all objects could be seen, not with sharp clearness, but distinctly.
"Are you sure, Gaspare?"
"Si, signora! The padrone has not come back. He is not here."
The boy"s voice sounded angry, Hermione thought. It startled her. And the way he looked at her startled her too.
"You have looked in the house? Maurice!" she called. "Maurice!"
"I say the padrone is not here, signora!"
Never before had Gaspare spoken to Hermione like this, in a tone almost that she ought to have resented. She did not resent it, but it filled her with a creeping uneasiness.
"What time is it? Nearly half-past nine. He ought to be here by now."
The boy nodded, keeping his flaming eyes on her.
"I said nine to give him lots of time to get cool, and change his clothes, and--it"s very odd."
"I will go down to the sea, signora. A rivederci."
He swung round to go, but Hermione caught his arm.
"No; don"t go. Wait a moment, Gaspare. Don"t leave me like this!"
She detained him.
"Why, what"s the matter? What--what are you afraid of?"
Instantly there came into his face the ugly, obstinate look she had already noticed, and wondered at, that day.
"What are you afraid of, Gaspare?" she repeated.
Her voice vibrated with a strength of feeling that as yet she herself scarcely understood.
"Niente!" the boy replied, doggedly.
"Well, but then"--she laughed--"why shouldn"t the padrone be a few minutes late? It would be absurd to go down. You might miss him on the way."
Gaspare said nothing. He stood there with his arms hanging and the ugly look still on his face.
"Mightn"t you? Mightn"t you, Gaspare, if he came up by Marechiaro?"
"Si, signora."
"Well, then--"
They stood there in silence for a minute. Hermione broke it.
"He--you know how splendidly the padrone swims," she said. "Don"t you, Gaspare?"
The boy said nothing.
"Gaspare, why don"t you answer when I speak to you?"
"Because I"ve got nothing to say, signora."
His tone was almost rude. At that moment he nearly hated Hermione for holding him by the arm. If she had been a man he would have struck her off and gone.
"Gaspare!" she said, but not angrily.
Her instinct told her that he was obliged to be utterly natural just then under the spell of some violent feeling. She knew he loved his padrone.
The feeling must be one of anxiety. But it was absurd to be so anxious.
It was ridiculous, hysterical. She said to herself that it was Gaspare"s excitement that was affecting her. She was catching his mood.
"My dear Gaspare," she said, "we must just wait. The padrone will be here in a minute. Perhaps he has come up by Marechiaro. Very likely he has looked in at the hotel to see how the sick signore is after his day up here. That is it, I feel sure."
She looked at him for agreement and met his stern and flaming eyes, utterly unmoved by what she had said, utterly unconvinced. At this moment she could not deny that this untrained, untutored nature had power over hers. She let go his arm and sat down by the wall.
"Let us wait out here for a minute," she said.
"Va bene, signora."
He stood there quite still, but she felt as if in this unnatural stillness there was violent movement, and she looked away from him. It was fully night now. She gazed down at the ravine. By that way Maurice would come, unless he really had gone to Marechiaro to see Artois. She had suggested to Gaspare that this might be the reason of Maurice"s delay, but she knew that she did not think it was. Yet what other reason could there be? He swam splendidly. She said that to herself. She kept on saying it. Why?
Slowly the minutes crept by. The silence around them was intense, yet she felt no calm, no peace in it. Like the stillness of Gaspare it seemed to be violent. It began to frighten her. She began to wish for movement, for sound. Presently a light shone in the cottage.
"Signora! Signora!"
Lucrezia"s voice was calling.