This, however, was no easy matter. It was a provoking fact that
his duties kept him busily occupied in the afternoon and evening,
and that the hours he could command fell almost always in the
morning. To visit the Palazzo Montevarchi on any pretext whatever
before one o'clock in the day was out of the question. He had not
even the satisfaction of seeing Faustina drive past him in the
Corso when she was out with her mother and Flavia, since they
drove just at the time when he was occupied. Gouache told himself
again and again that the display of ingenuity was in a measure the
natural duty of a man in love, but the declaration did not help
him very much. He was utterly at a loss for an expedient, and
suffered keenly in being deprived of the possibility of seeing
Faustina after having seen her so often and so intimately. A week
earlier he could have borne it better, but now the separation was
intolerable. In time of peace he would have disobeyed orders and
thrown up his service for the day, no matter what the consequences
turned out to be for himself; but at the present moment, when
every man was expected to be at his post, such conduct seemed
dishonourable and cowardly. He submitted in silence, growing daily
more careworn, and losing much of the inexhaustible gaiety which
made him a general favourite with his comrades.
Pages:
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219