themselves; and they did not seem to think there was anything in the least wretched or pitiable in their way of living.  The last thing I heard, when I left them that day, was La Biondella crying ’Bang!’—­then a bark, a thump on the floor, and a scream of laughter.  If it was not for their dog, I should go and see them oftener.  But the ill-conditioned beast has taken a dislike to me, and growls and shows his teeth whenever I come near him.”

“The girl looked sickly when she came in here.  Is she always like that?”

“No.  She has altered within the last month.  I suspect our interesting young nobleman has produced an impression.  The oftener the girl has sat to him lately, the paler and more out of spirits she has become.”

“Oh! she has sat to him, has she?”

“She is sitting to him now.  He is doing a bust of some Pagan nymph or other, and prevailed on Nanina to let him copy from her head and face.  According to her own account the little fool was frightened at first, and gave him all the trouble in the world before she would consent.”

“And now she has consented, don’t you think it likely she may turn out rather a dangerous rival?  Men are such fools, and take such fancies into their heads—­”

“Ridiculous!  A thread-paper of a girl like that, who has no manner, no talk, no intelligence; who has nothing to recommend her but an awkward, babyish prettiness!  Dangerous to me?  No, no!  If there is danger at all, I have to dread it from the sculptor’s daughter.  I don’t mind confessing that I am anxious to see Maddalena Lomi.  But as for Nanina, she will simply be of use to me.  All I know already about the studio and the artists in it, I know through her.  She will deliver my message, and procure me my introduction; and when we have got so far, I shall give her an old gown and a shake of the hand; and then, good-by to our little innocent!”

“Well, well, for your sake I hope you are the wiser of the two in this matter.  For my part, I always distrust innocence.  Wait one moment, and I shall have the body and sleeves of this dress ready for the needle-women.  There, ring the bell, and order them up; for I have directions to give, and you must interpret for me.”

While Brigida went to the bell, the energetic Frenchwoman began planning out the skirt of the new dress.  She laughed as she measured off yard after yard of the silk.

“What are you laughing about?” asked Brigida, opening the door and ringing a hand-bell in the passage.

“I can’t help fancying, dear, in spite of her innocent face and her artless ways, that your young friend is a hypocrite.”

“And I am quite certain, love, that she is only a simpleton.”

CHAPTER II.

The studio of the master-sculptor, Luca Lomi, was composed of two large rooms unequally divided by a wooden partition, with an arched doorway cut in the middle of it.