They did not speak, but went on side by side, without looking at each other. They went down into the vale; Andrea, aggrieved because she was not hanging on his arm, yet not daring to ask her to do so.
“How is it that you are here?” she asked, suddenly and curtly.
“I can’t tell you. Down there the heat and the boredom were enough to kill one.”
“For no other reason?”
“I ... thought you would come here.”
“And you were right; it is fate.”
She looked tragic under her black veil, in her black gown, with the little silver dagger hanging from her waistband. The violet lines under her eyes gave them a voluptuous and sinister expression.
“If Caterina were to come ...” she said, grinding her teeth.
“She will not come....”
“It would be better that she came; I could kill myself here.”
“Oh, Lu
