"
Vivaldi drew himself up. "My daughter," said he, "has been trained to
face graver emergencies with an equanimity I have no fear of putting to
the touch--'the calm of a mind blest in the consciousness of its
virtue'; and were it not that circumstances are somewhat pressing--" he
broke off and glanced at Cantapresto, who was fidgeting about Odo's
carriage or talking in undertones with the driver of the chaise.
"Come, sir," said Odo urgently, "Let my servants put your luggage up and
we'll continue this argument on the road."
Vivaldi again paused. "Sir," he said at length, "will you first step
aside with me a moment?" he led Odo a few paces down the road. "I make
no pretence," he went on when they were out of Cantapresto's hearing,
"of concealing from you that this offer comes very opportune to our
needs, for it is urgent we should be out of Piedmont by tomorrow. But
before accepting a seat in your carriage, I must tell you that you offer
it to a proscribed man; since I have little reason to doubt that by this
time the sbirri are on my track."
It was impossible to guess from Vivaldi's manner whether he suspected
Odo of being the cause of his misadventure; and the young man, though
flushing to the forehead, took refuge in the thought of Fulvia's signal
and maintained a self-possessed silence.
"The motive of my persecution," Vivaldi continued, "I need hardly
explain to one acquainted with my house and with the aims and opinions
of those who frequent it.
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