Florence, appealing to the servant who waited
near him.

"Her father, sir, Signor Luca Lomi; and
her uncle, Father Rocco," answered the man.
"They were here all through the day, until
my mistress tell asleep."

"Do you know where to find them now?"

"Signer Luca told me he should be at his
studio; and Father Rocco said, I might find
him at his lodgings."

"Send for them both directly. Stay! who
is your mistress's confessor? He ought to be
summoned without loss of time."

"My mistress's confessor is Father Rocco,
sir."

'' Very well—send, or go yourself, at once,
minutes may be of importance, now."
Saying this, the doctor turned away, and sat
down to wait for any last demands on his
services, in the chair which Fabio had just left.

CHAPTER VI.

BEFORE the servant could get to the priest's
lodgings a visitor had applied there for
admission, and had been immediately received
by Father Rocco himself. This favoured
guest was a little man, very sprucely and
neatly dressed, and oppressively polite in
his manner. He bowed when he first sat
down, he bowed when he answered the usual
inquiries about his health, and he bowed
for the third time, when Father Rocco asked
what had brought him from Florence.

"Rather an awkward business," replied the
little man, recovering himself uneasily after
his third bow. "The dress-maker, named
Nanina, whom you placed under my wife's
protection, about a year ago— "

"What of her ? " inquired the priest,
eagerly.

"I regret to say she has left us, with her
child-sister, and their very disagreeable dog,
that growls at everybody."

"When did they go ?"

"Only yesterday. I came here at once to
tell you, as you were so very particular in
recommending us to take care of her. It is
not our fault that she has gone. My wife was
kindness itself to her, and I always treated
her like a duchess. I bought dinner-mats of
her sister; I even put up with the thieving
and growling of the disagreeable dog— "

' Where have they gone to? Have you
found out that ?"

"I have found out, by application at the
passport-office, that they have not left
Florence but what particular part of the city
they have removed to, I have not yet had
time to discover."

"And pray why did they leave you in
the first place? Nanina is not a girl to do
anything without a reason. She must have
had some cause for going away. What was
it?"

The little man hesitated, and made a fourth
bow.

"You remember your private instructions
to my wife and myself, when you first brought
Nanina to our house?" he said, looking away
rather uneasily while he spoke.

"Yes. You were to watch her, but to
take care that she did not suspect you. It
was just possible, at that time, that she might
try to get back to Pisa without my knowing
it; and everything depended on her remaining
at Florence. I think, now, that I did wrong
to distrust her; but it was of the last importance
to provide against all possibilities, and
to abstain from putting too much faith in
my own good opinion of the girl. For these
reasons, I certainly did instruct you to watch
her privately. So far, you are quite right;
and I have nothing to complain of. Go on."

"You remember," resumed the little man,
"that the first consequence of our following
your instructions was a discovery (which we
immediately communicated to you) that she
was secretly learning to write?"

"Yes. And I also remember sending you
word, not to show that you knew what she
was doing; but to wait and see if she turned
her knowledge of writing to account, and
took, or sent, any letters to the post. You
informed me in your regular monthly report,
that she never did anything of the kind."

"Never, until three days ago. And then,
she was traced from her room in my house to
the post-office with a letter, which she dropped
into the box."

"And the address of which you discovered
before she took it from your house?"

"Unfortunately I did not," answered the
little man, reddening and looking askance at
the priest, as if he expected to receive a
severe reprimand.

But Father Rocco said nothing. He was
thinking. Who could she have written to?
If to Fabio, why should she have waited for
months and months, after she had learnt how
to use her pen, before sending him a letter?
If not to Fabio, to what other person could
she have written?

"I regret not discovering the address
—regret it most deeply," said the little man,
with a low bow of apology.

"It is too late for regret," said Father
Rocco, coldly. " Tell me how she came to
leave your house; I have not heard that yet.
Be as brief as you can. I expect to be called
every moment to the bedside of a near and
dear relation, who is suffering from severe
illness. You shall have all my attention;
but you must ask it for as short a time as
possible."

"I will be briefness itself. In the first
place, you must know that I have or rather
had an idle, unscrupulous rascal of an
apprentice in my business."

The priest pursed up his mouth,
contemptuously.

"In the second place, this same good-for-
nothing fellow had the impertinence to fall in
love with Nanina."

Father Rocco started, and listened eagerly.