What would they be like together? How would
Vere's divine innocence receive the amiable seductions of the
Marchesino? Artois, in fancy, could see his friend Doro for once
completely disarmed by a child. Vere's innocence did not spring from
folly, but was backed up by excellent brains. It was that fact which
made it so beautiful. The innocence and the brains together might well
read Doro a pretty little lesson. And Vere after the lesson--would she
be changed? Would she lose by giving, even if the gift were a lesson?
Artois had certainly felt that his instinct told him not to do what
Doro wanted. He had been moved, he supposed now, by a protective
sentiment. Vere was delicious as she was. And Doro--he was delightful
as he was. The girl was enchanting in her ignorance. The youth--to
Artois the Marchesino seemed almost a boy, indeed, often quite a boy--
was admirable in his precocity. He embodied Naples, its gay
/furberia/, and yet that was hardly the word--perhaps rather one
should say its sunny naughtiness, its reckless devotion to life purged
of thought.
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