I was curious to hear if anything passed
between him and the signorina, but I was pounced upon by Donna
Antonia, the daughter of the minister of finance, who happened to be
present, notwithstanding the late hour, as a guest of the signorina's
for the night. She was a handsome young lady, a Spanish brunette of
the approved pattern, but with manners formed at a New York boarding
school, where she had undergone a training that had tempered, without
destroying, her native gentility. She had distinguished me very
favorably, and I was vain enough to suppose she honored me by some
jealousy of my _penchant_ for the signorina.
"I hope you have enjoyed yourself in the conservatory," she said
maliciously.
"We were talking business, Donna Antonia," I replied.
"Ah! business! I hear of nothing but business. There is papa gone down
to the country and burying himself alive to work out some great scheme
of business."
I pricked up my ears.
"Ah! what scheme is that?" I asked.
"Oh, I don't know! Something about that horrid debt. But I was told
not to say anything about it!"
The debt was becoming a bore. The whole air was full of it.
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