On his part, he was not thinking of what was passing in her mind, but
of what he should have thought of himself, had he, with his character,
been in her position. The bald statement that he was married and his
confession of his love for Sabina looked badly side by side, in the
clear light of his own honour; all the more, because he knew that,
without positively or directly speaking out his heart to the girl, he
had let her guess that he was falling in love with her. He had said
so, though in jest, on that night when he had been alone with her in
Volterra's house; his going there, on the mere chance of seeing her
alone, and the interest he had shown in her from their first meeting,
must have made her think that he was in love. Moreover, he really was,
and like most people who are consciously in love where they ought not
to be, he felt as if everybody knew it; and yet he was a married man.
"I am legally married under Italian law," he said, after a pause. "But
that is all. My wife bears my name, and lives honourably under it, but
that is all there has ever been of marriage in my life. I can honestly
say that not even a word of affection ever passed between us."
"How strange!" The Princess listened with interest, wondering what was
coming next.
"I never saw her but once," Malipieri continued.
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