I can't
understand your having done such a thing. It was not only ill-mannered,
but it put you in a very questionable light."
Over the princess's shoulder Giovanni was making an unmistakable demand
for silence. "I'm very sorry," Nina faltered--Giovanni was looking at
her intensely, pleadingly, his finger on his lips--"but I--never felt
like that before. I got terribly--nervous, and I felt that if I did not
get away from that house I should go mad." Even the recollection made
Nina look so distraught that her aunt's indignation turned to anxiety,
and she put her arm around the girl and led her into the drawing-room.
"It is not like you, dear, to lose control of yourself," she said
tenderly, and then, as she scrutinized Nina's face in the better light,
she added: "You do look white, darling. You had better lie down here on
the sofa. I think I will prepare you some tea of camomile," and then,
with a final touch of gentle admonition, she added, "We must not have
any more such scenes!" Nina hoped for a chance to ask Giovanni why she
might not tell the princess what had happened, but the latter did not
leave the room. Having sent for the camomile flowers, she made Nina a
cup of tea, and the subject of the afternoon's occurrence was dropped.
CHAPTER XXIV
WEIGHED IN THE BALANCE
All that evening Nina was tense and nervous, not only because of her
experience at the Palazzo Scorpa, but because of something portentous in
Giovanni's unexplained demand for silence.
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