"
She went to the door, and she turned to smile at him again as she laid
her hand on the knob. He remembered her afterwards as she stood there
a single moment with the light on her misty hair and white cheeks, and
the little shadow round her small bare throat. He remembered that he
would have given anything to bring her back to the place where she had
sat. There was much less doubt in his mind as to what he felt then
than there had been a few minutes earlier.
Half an hour after Sabina had disappeared Malipieri and Volterra were
seated in deep armchairs in the smoking-room, the Baron having sent
his wife to bed a few minutes after they had come in. She obeyed
meekly as she always did, for she had early discovered that although
she was a very energetic woman, Volterra was her master and that it
was hopeless to oppose his slightest wish. It is true that in return
for the most absolute obedience the fat financier gave her the
strictest fidelity and all the affection of which he was capable. Like
more than one of the great modern freebooters, the Baron's private
life was very exemplary, yet his wife would have been willing to
forgive him something if she might occasionally have had her own way.
This evening he was not in good-humour, as Malipieri found out as soon
as they were alone together.
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