第20章

"You don't believe!" she added.

He was silent a moment; and then, "Yes, I believe it," he said.

"Oh, no, you don't!" she answered. "Well, then--I am not!"The young girl and her cicerone were on their way to the gate of the enclosure, so that Winterbourne, who had but lately entered, presently took leave of them. A week afterward he went to dine at a beautiful villa on the Caelian Hill, and, on arriving, dismissed his hired vehicle. The evening was charming, and he promised himself the satisfaction of walking home beneath the Arch of Constantine and past the vaguely lighted monuments of the Forum.

There was a waning moon in the sky, and her radiance was not brilliant, but she was veiled in a thin cloud curtain which seemed to diffuse and equalize it. When, on his return from the villa (it was eleven o'clock), Winterbourne approached the dusky circle of the Colosseum, it recurred to him, as a lover of the picturesque, that the interior, in the pale moonshine, would be well worth a glance. He turned aside and walked to one of the empty arches, near which, as he observed, an open carriage--one of the little Roman streetcabs--was stationed.

Then he passed in, among the cavernous shadows of the great structure, and emerged upon the clear and silent arena. The place had never seemed to him more impressive. One-half of the gigantic circus was in deep shade, the other was sleeping in the luminous dusk.

As he stood there he began to murmur Byron's famous lines, out of "Manfred," but before he had finished his quotation he remembered that if nocturnal meditations in the Colosseum are recommended by the poets, they are deprecated by the doctors.

The historic atmosphere was there, certainly; but the historic atmosphere, scientifically considered, was no better than a villainous miasma.

Winterbourne walked to the middle of the arena, to take a more general glance, intending thereafter to make a hasty retreat.

The great cross in the center was covered with shadow;it was only as he drew near it that he made it out distinctly.

Then he saw that two persons were stationed upon the low steps which formed its base. One of these was a woman, seated; her companion was standing in front of her.

Presently the sound of the woman's voice came to him distinctly in the warm night air. "Well, he looks at us as one of the old lions or tigers may have looked at the Christian martyrs!"These were the words he heard, in the familiar accent of Miss Daisy Miller.

"Let us hope he is not very hungry," responded the ingenious Giovanelli.

"He will have to take me first; you will serve for dessert!"Winterbourne stopped, with a sort of horror, and, it must be added, with a sort of relief. It was as if a sudden illumination had been flashed upon the ambiguity of Daisy's behavior, and the riddle had become easy to read. She was a young lady whom a gentleman need no longer be at pains to respect. He stood there, looking at her--looking at her companion and not reflecting that though he saw them vaguely, he himself must have been more brightly visible.

He felt angry with himself that he had bothered so much about the right way of regarding Miss Daisy Miller. Then, as he was going to advance again, he checked himself, not from the fear that he was doing her injustice, but from a sense of the danger of appearing unbecomingly exhilarated by this sudden revulsion from cautious criticism.

He turned away toward the entrance of the place, but, as he did so, he heard Daisy speak again.

"Why, it was Mr. Winterbourne! He saw me, and he cuts me!"What a clever little reprobate she was, and how smartly she played at injured innocence! But he wouldn't cut her. Winterbourne came forward again and went toward the great cross. Daisy had got up;Giovanelli lifted his hat. Winterbourne had now begun to think simply of the craziness, from a sanitary point of view, of a delicate young girl lounging away the evening in this nest of malaria.

What if she WERE a clever little reprobate? that was no reason for her dying of the perniciosa. "How long have you been here?"he asked almost brutally.

Daisy, lovely in the flattering moonlight, looked at him a moment.

Then--"All the evening," she answered, gently. * * * "I never saw anything so pretty.""I am afraid," said Winterbourne, "that you will not think Roman fever very pretty. This is the way people catch it.

I wonder," he added, turning to Giovanelli, "that you, a native Roman, should countenance such a terrible indiscretion.""Ah," said the handsome native, "for myself I am not afraid.""Neither am I--for you! I am speaking for this young lady."Giovanelli lifted his well-shaped eyebrows and showed his brilliant teeth.

But he took Winterbourne's rebuke with docility. "I told the signorina it was a grave indiscretion, but when was the signorina ever prudent?""I never was sick, and I don't mean to be!" the signorina declared.

"I don't look like much, but I'm healthy! I was bound to see the Colosseum by moonlight; I shouldn't have wanted to go home without that;and we have had the most beautiful time, haven't we, Mr. Giovanelli?

If there has been any danger, Eugenio can give me some pills.

He has got some splendid pills."

"I should advise you," said Winterbourne, "to drive home as fast as possible and take one!""What you say is very wise," Giovanelli rejoined.

"I will go and make sure the carriage is at hand."And he went forward rapidly.

Daisy followed with Winterbourne. He kept looking at her;she seemed not in the least embarrassed. Winterbourne said nothing;Daisy chattered about the beauty of the place. "Well, IHAVE seen the Colosseum by moonlight!" she exclaimed.

"That's one good thing." Then, noticing Winterbourne's silence, she asked him why he didn't speak. He made no answer;he only began to laugh. They passed under one of the dark archways; Giovanelli was in front with the carriage.

Here Daisy stopped a moment, looking at the young American.

"DID you believe I was engaged, the other day?" she asked.