She could not have explained it, for the impulse was so
instinctive that she did not comprehend it, and the deed followed
so quickly upon the thought that there was no time for reflection.
She fled from the room and from the palace, out into the street,
wholly unconscious of danger, like a creature in a dream.
The crowd which had impeded Gouache's progress was already
thinning when Faustina reached the pavement. She was born and bred
in Rome, and as a child, before the convent days, had been taken
to walk many a time in the neighbourhood of Saint Peter's. She
knew well enough where the Serristori barracks were situated, and
turned at once towards Sant' Angelo. There were still many people
about, most of them either hurrying in the direction whence the
departing uproar still proceeded, or running homewards to get out
of danger. Few noticed her, and for some time no one hindered her
progress, though it was a strange sight to see a fair young girl,
dressed in the fashion of the time which so completely
distinguished her from Roman women of lower station, running at
breathless speed through the dusky streets.
Suddenly she lost her way. Coming down the Via de' Coronari she
turned too soon to the right and found herself in the confusing
byways which form a small labyrinth around the church of San
Salvatore in Lauro.
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