"Giovanni went to the surgeon's," he continued. "Imagine--he walked
there! He should never have attempted such a thing. He had quite an
operation, for the splintered portions of the bone had to be cut away.
The arm is now in plaster, and they won't be able to tell for weeks
whether he ever can move his elbow again. They brought him home a couple
of hours ago. He is now a little feverish, but a sister has come to
nurse him, and we have left him to rest." Then Sansevero turned to his
wife: "It all sounds very queer to me, Leonora. What was the matter with
the boy, anyway? Why did he not send for me? And why did he not go to
bed like a sensible human being and stay there?"
Nina was on tenterhooks. She so wanted to ask her aunt and uncle what
they really thought! She wondered if they truly had no suspicions. Or
were they perhaps dissimulating as she herself was trying with poor
success to do? She could not understand how the princess, who was
usually quick of perception, could possibly be blind to the real facts
of the case. She felt choked--as if she herself had fired the shot that
might bring far more horrible consequences than her aunt and uncle knew.
The princess, seeing Nina's face grow whiter and whiter, asked anxiously
if she felt ill.
"No--not a bit!" Nina answered, looking as though she were about to
faint.
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