Guiseppe Pallanza slept soundly all night, while I took snatches of sleep in the armchair by his bedside. At nine o'clock in the morning he awoke, feeling much stronger, and after I had given him something to eat I prepared to go out.

"Where are you going, Signor?" asked Pallanza in an anxious tone.

"I am going to send a doctor to see you, and then I am going to the Casa Angello."

"And for what reason?"

"To bring Signorina Bianca here!"

"Do you know the Signorina Bianca?"

"Very well, Signor Pallanza. I am the Englishman of whom you have no doubt heard her speak."

"Signor Hugo! yes, I know," muttered Guiseppe; and then, after a pause, "I wish to speak to you, I wish to tell you something."

"You shall tell me all shortly, but meanwhile lie down quietly, and when the doctor comes say nothing about the Palazzo Morone."

"Ah!" cried Pallanza, starting up in his bed, "do you know that horrible place?"

"I know all! But there, you are still weak," I answered, forcing him to lie down. "When I return I will speak to you about some important matters."

"Important!--to me?"

"Yes, and to the Contessa Morone."

"Ah! that terrible woman."

"Meanwhile, Signor Pallanza, say nothing about your visit to the palace or about Madame Morone."

"Not a word! And you will bring Bianca to see me?"

"Yes! I promise you."

With this hope, Pallanza was perfectly contented, and after instructing his landlady, who was in a state of great bewilderment at this sudden reappearance, to look after him, I went out to find Avenza. Fortunately he was well known in Verona, and I had no difficulty in discovering his house. He saw me at once, listened to my account of the way Pallanza had passed the night, and promised to see him without delay. Having thus carried out satisfactorily the first part of my mission, I departed to perform the second, which involved a somewhat embarrassing interview with Signorina Angello.

On arriving at the house of the Maestro, I was received by Petronella, who threw up her hands with an appeal to the saints when she saw my haggard appearance and burst out into a volley of questions.

"Eh! Signor Inglese. Is it not well with you? San Pietro! how the wine does change a face. Here has the Maestro been asking for you every day! 'Well! Well!' said I, 'he has gone away like the lover of the piccola!' And it is true! I see how you return. Eh! Madonna, all men are bad. I have been married--I know."

"You are wrong on this occasion, Petronella. I have not been at the wine, as you seem to think!"

"But your face, Signor Inglese--like that of a sick person! Gran dio!"

"Comes from sitting up all night by the bedside of Guiseppe Pallanza."

Petronella clapped her hands together with an ejaculation of delight

"He is found, then, the poor young man! Ah! it is well I did not waste a centesimo in masses; and those priests are such thieves. Eh! this news will be like wine to the piccola. Go in! go in, Signor Inglese! the Signorina is there, but the Maestro! he is in bed, which is the best place for him, say I."

After this breathless harangue Petronella ushered me into the sitting-room, where I found Bianca sitting by the window, contemplating a portrait of her lost lover. She arose when she saw me and came forward with an anxious look on her paleface, while the faithful but noisy domestic left the apartment.

"Well, Signorina, do you feel better?"

"Yes, yes, Signore, much better; but you have news!--news of Guiseppe."

"The best of news, my poor child. Guiseppe is found, and is now at his lodgings."

The blood rushed into her hitherto pale cheeks, her melancholy dark eyes sparkled with joy, and from a pallid, worn-looking girl she changed into a bright, joyful woman. It was a most wonderful transformation, as if a wan lily had suddenly blossomed under the wand of some fairy into a rich red rose.

"Signor Hugo! Signor Hugo! Ah, the good news! Oh, how happy I am! He is alive, then? he is well! Oh, say he is well, Signor Hugo!"

"Signorina, he is still weak after his adventure, and at present he is in bed."

"Oh, let me go to him! let me go at once! He may die, my poor Guiseppe!"

"No he will not die; but put on your hat and I will take you to him, for you alone, Signorina, can nurse him back to health and strength."

Bianca ran to put on her hat and tell the Maestro the good news, which evidently delighted the old man greatly, judging from the extraordinary chuckling sounds which shortly proceeded from his bedroom. Petronella at the doorway celebrated a noisy triumph on her own account, and at last amid the chucklings of the patriarch and the loud delight of his handmaiden, Bianca took her departure under my wing to visit the newly-found prodigal.

She absolutely danced along the pavement, so exuberant was her delight at the good news, and I thought how easily I could damp this joy by telling her the true story of Guiseppe's disappearance. It was a cruel thought, and I regretted it the moment after it flashed across my mind; for it would have been the wanton act of a boy crushing a butterfly to have destroyed the happy ignorance of this merry child, who, tripping gaily along by my side, put me in mind of the smiling Hebe of the Greeks, that charming incarnation of joyous maidenhood.

"Signore!" said Bianca, moderating her transports, "you have not told me the reason of Guiseppe's absence."

"I am afraid there is very little to tell, Signorina! He was lured to the Palazzo by an enemy, who kept him there until last night, when, luckily, I discovered where he was concealed and released him."

"Ah, Signor Hugo, how can I thank you for your kindness! Then my poor Guiseppe was hidden in that terrible room?"

"He was concealed near it, at all events," I replied evasively.

"And the voice in the darkness, Signor? Oh, that cruel, cruel voice! It. has haunted my dreams ever since!"

"It was nothing, Signorina; it was--it was a friend of mine, who came to assist me to look for Guiseppe!"

"Was it a signor or a Signora?" asked Bianca, who, evidently in her nervous agitation, had not distinguished the feminine tones of the unknown.

"It was a signor! a young signor whom I know!"