He never had anything to do, since his education had been completed. Why
should he not walk with Madame d'Aragona and talk to her? It would be
better than hanging about the club or reading a novel at home. The
hounds did not meet on that day, or he would not have been at Gouache's
at all. But they were to meet to-morrow, and he would therefore not see
Madame d'Aragona.

"Gouache is an old friend of yours, I suppose," observed the lady.

"He was a friend of my father's. He is almost a Roman. He married a
distant connection of mine, Donna Faustina Montevarchi."

"Ah yes--I have heard. He is a man of immense genius."

"He is a man I envy with all my heart," said Orsino.

"You envy Gouache? I should not have thought--"

"No? Ah, Madame, to me a man who has a career, a profession, an
interest, is a god."

"I like that," answered Madame d'Aragona. "But it seems to me you have
your choice. You have the world before you. Write your name upon it. You
do not lack enthusiasm. Is it the inspiration that you need?"

"Perhaps," said Orsino glancing meaningly at her as she looked at him.

"That is not new," thought she, "but he is charming, all the same. They
say," she added aloud, "that genius finds inspiration everywhere."