But she snatched
it from me, and said something in Italian to her maid which I could
not understand.
Meanwhile, the racket I had made had aroused the entire neighborhood.
Dogs barked, children screamed, and men's voices were heard,
approaching the garden. The Lady gave me another glance, as though she
would have liked to pierce me through and through with fiery bullets,
then turned hastily and went into the room, with a haughty, forced
laugh, slamming the door directly in my face. The maid seized me by
the sleeve and pulled me toward the garden gate.
"Your stupidity is beyond belief!" she said in the most spiteful way
as we went along. I too was furious. "What the devil did you mean,"
I said, "by telling me to come here?" "That's just it!" exclaimed
the girl. "My Countess favored you so--first threw flowers out of
the window to you, sang songs--and _this_ is her reward! But there is
absolutely nothing to be done with you; you positively throw away
your luck." "But," I rejoined, "I meant the Countess from Germany,
the lovely Lady fair--" "Oh," she interrupted me, "she went back to
Germany long ago, with your crazy passion for her. And you'd better
run after her! No doubt she is pining for you, and you can play the
fiddle together and gaze at the moon, only for pity's sake let me see
no more of you!"
All was confusion about us by this time. People from the next garden
were climbing over the fence armed with clubs, others were searching
among the paths and avenues; frightened faces in nightcaps appeared
here and there in the moonlight; it seemed as if the devil had let
loose upon us a mob of evil spirits.
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