Then, as she entered the room eagerly, she stopped.
Sir Harvey was not alone. There were two gentlemen with him and, as she entered, they rose and bowed politely, waiting for Sir Harvey to effect the introduction.
“My sister,” Sir Harvey said briefly. “Paolina, may I present the Marquis Dolioni and Conte Allessandio Calbo?”
Paolina curtseyed.
The Marquis raised her hand to his lips. He was a good-looking rather serious young man of perhaps twenty-six.
He was dressed soberly compared with his companion, but everything about him proclaimed wealth and affluence.
“The Marquis has called here,” Sir Harvey said, “hoping to find an old friend, Prince Foscolo, who this Palazzo belongs to. I have been telling him that we have just this morning arrived as strangers to Venice but guests of the
