XVI
This obscure hero walked hard for a couple of hours. He passed up the Corso, out of Porta del Popolo and into Villa Borghese, of which he made a complete circuit. The keenness of his irritation subsided, but it left an intolerable weight on his heart. When dusk had fallen he found himself near the lodging of his friend Madame Grandoni. He frequently paid her a visit during the hour which preceded dinner, and he now ascended her unillumined staircase and rang at her relaxed bell-rope with an especial desire for diversion. He was told that for the moment she was occupied, but that if he would come in and wait she would presently be with him. He had not sat musing in the firelight for five minutes when he heard the jingle of the door-bell and then a rustle and a murmur in the hall. The door of the little parlour opened, but before the visitor appeared he had recognised her voice. Christina Light swept forward, preceded by her poodle and almost filling the narrow room with the train of her dress. She was coloured here and there by the flickering firelight.
"They told me you were here," she simply said as she took a seat.
"And yet you came in? It was very brave," Rowland returned.
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