'
'By all means,' said Sidonia.
Whereupon they ushered forward a venerable woman with a true Italian
face; hair white as snow, and eyes still glittering with fire, with
features like a Roman bust, and an olive complexion. Sidonia addressed
her in Italian, which greatly pleased her. She was profuse, even solemn,
in her thanks to him; she added, she was sure, from all that she had
heard of him, if he took the children with him, he would be kind to
them.
'She has overheard something I said to my wife,' said Baroni, a little
embarrassed.
'I am sure I should be kind to them,' said Sidonia, 'for many reasons,
and particularly for one;' and he whispered something in Baroni's ear.
Baroni started from his seat with a glowing cheek, but Sidonia, looking
at his watch and promising to attend their evening performance, bade
them adieu.
III.
The performances were more meagrely attended this evening than even on
the preceding one, but had they been conducted in the royal theatre of
a capital, they could not have been more elaborate, nor the troupe have
exerted themselves with greater order and effect. It mattered not a jot
to them whether their benches were thronged or vacant; the only audience
for whom the Baroni family cared was the foreign manager, young,
generous, and speculative, whom they had evidently without intention
already pleased, and whose good opinion they resolved to-night entirely
to secure.
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