Page:Francesca Carrara 1.pdf/176

172 Evelyn; yet the expression of his face belied his words. Meeting Francesca's eye, he added, "for your own sake—for mine, I must regret aught that places ceremony or distance between us."

She was saved the trouble of a reply, by the announcement of Madame de Mercœur's coach, sent to fetch her; and as Evelyn handed her in, he said, "I shall wait upon you this evening. Mazarin's fair nieces hold almost a court, and I will find some one to present me, for your sweet sake."

Francesca could only say something indistinctly about pleasure, &c.; and the ponderous machine rolled off at a rate little calculated to disturb any meditation in which she might please to indulge.

Evelyn's train of thought was far the most agreeable of the two. "If I had for a moment," thought he, "renounced my old belief in luck, I should resume its worship with all possible speed. Mark now what Fortune has done for me; well does she deserve my entire trust. Meeting the pretty Italian was enough in itself; and now she promises to be as serviceable as she is charming. Without money, our enterprise must fall to the ground. All hope of obtaining it from the Pope through De Retz is at end—that negotiation has been most judiciously kept out of sight. Well,