Ignorant as Sabina was
of all such things, her instinct told her that the masonry was
enormously thick; and yet her faith in him made him sure that he had
chosen the only spot where there was a chance at all.
Sometimes she almost forgot the danger for a little while. It pleased
her to watch him, and to follow the rhythmic movements of his strong
and graceful body. It is a good sight to see an athletic man exerting
every nerve and muscle wisely and skilfully in a very long-continued
effort; and the woman who has seen a man do that to save her own life
is not likely to forget it.
And then, again, the drowsiness came over her, and she was almost
asleep, and woke with a shiver, feeling cold. He had given her his
watch to hold, when he had made her sit on his waistcoat, and she had
squeezed it under her glove into the palm of her hand. It was a plain
silver watch with no chain. She got it out and looked at it.
Eight o'clock, now. The time had passed quickly, and she must have
really been asleep. The Baron and his wife were just going to sit down
to dinner, unless her disappearance had produced confusion in the
house. But they would not be frightened, though they might be angry.
The servants would have told them that Signor Sassi, whose card was
there to prove his coming, had asked for Donna Sabina, and that she
had gone out with him in a cab, dressed for walking.
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