"Signora, it is nothing to do with me."
A sort of dull anger seemed to be creeping into his voice, an accent
of defiance that he was trying to control. Hermione noticed it, and it
brought her to a resolve that, till now, she had avoided. Her secret
fear had prompted her to delay, to a gradual method of arriving at the
truth. Now she sat forward, clasping her hands together hard, and
speaking quickly:
"Gaspare, I feel sure that you noticed long ago something very strange
in Ruffo. Perhaps you noticed it almost at once. I believe you did. It
is this. Ruffo has an extraordinary look in his face sometimes, a look
of--of your dead Padrone. I didn't see it for some time, but I think
you saw it directly. Did you? Did you, Gaspare?"
There was no answer. Gaspare only cleared his throat again more
violently. Hermione waited for a minute. Then, understanding that he
was not going to answer, she went on:
"You have seen it--we have both noticed it. Now I want to tell you
something--something that happened to-night.
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