"You are safe here, my darling--good-bye!"
"Where are you going?"
"To the Serristori barracks. God keep you safe till I come back--
good-bye!"
"I will go with you," said Faustina, with a strange look of
determination in her angelic face.
Gouache smiled, even then, at the mad thought which presented
itself to the girl's mind. Once more he kissed her, and then, she
knew not how, he was gone. Other persons had come near them,
shutting the windows rapidly, one after the other, in anticipation
of danger from without. With instinctive modesty Faustina withdrew
her arms from the young man's neck and shrank back. In that moment
he disappeared in the crowd.
Faustina stared wildly about her for a few seconds, confused and
stunned by the suddenness of what had passed, above all by the
thought that the man she loved was gone from her side to meet his
death. Then without hesitation she left the room. No one hindered
her, for the Saracinesca men were gone to see to the defences of
the house, and Corona was already by the cradle of her child. No
one noticed the slight figure as it slipped through the door and
was gone in the darkness of the unlighted halls. All was confusion
and noise and flashing of passing lights as the servants hurried
about, trying to obey orders in spite of their terror.
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