human
I dare say she well deserves it; she looks as if she did, said the Diva, with a pensive air, and a dash of melancholy in her voice.
gpt
I have often wondered, she continued, after a moment's pause,
human
Signora! cried Ludovico, provoked, exactly as Bianca had intended he should be, into saying what he would not otherwise have allowed to escape him,
gpt
--he hastened to add as he saw a sudden paleness come over the face of the singer, and an expression sudden and rapidly repressed and effaced, of such a concentration of wrath and hatred in her eyes, that momentary as it was, pulled him up short with something very much akin to a feeling resembling fear--
human
She is indeed, then, a most fortunate and happy woman, said Bianca, who had perfectly recovered herself, with grave gentleness;
gpt
Nay, don't speak in that tone! said Ludovico, putting out his hand and taking hers, which she readily gave him.
human
I accept your good wishes, Signora, most thankfully. I do hope and think that I--that we shall find happiness in our mutual choice. But, pray observe, Signora, that our talk has led me into confiding a secret to you, that I have, as yet, told to no living soul, and that it is important to me it should be kept secret yet awhile longer. I know I may trust you; may I not?
gpt
Depend on it, Signor Marchese, your secret shall be quite safe with me. But are you sure it is a secret? And then, do you know, continued the Diva, resuming her air of pensive thought,
human
I don't quite understand your meaning, Signora,
gpt
I mean that a woman, so circumstanced, ought to be very sure that she is giving her heart to the man who asks for it, and not to his position, not to the advantages, to the wealth he offers her. She ought to feel certain that, if all this--the advantages--the wealth were to vanish and fly away, her love would remain the same. Suppose now--it is out of the question, you tell me, but the case may be imagined all the same--suppose your uncle, the Marchese, were to marry, would the Venetian lady's love suffer no tittle of falling off?