wife; that he belonged in some way to the same variety of humanity as
herself; that she would understand him when he spoke, that she would
often feel intuitively what he was going to say next, and that he
would understand her.

She listened while he talked to the Baroness. He had a slight Venetian
accent, but his voice had not the soft Venetian ring. It was a little
veiled, and though not at all loud it was somewhat harsh. Sabina did
not dislike the manly tone, though it was not musical, nor the
Venetian pronunciation, although that was unfamiliar. In countries
like Italy and Germany, which have had many centres and many
historical capital cities, almost all educated people speak with the
accents of their several origins, and are rather tenacious of the
habit than anxious to get rid of it, generally maintaining that their
own pronunciation is the right one.

"Signor Malipieri," said the Baron to Sabina, as they went in to
dinner, "is the celebrated archaeologist."

"Yes," Sabina answered, as if she knew all about him, though she had
never heard him mentioned.

Malipieri probably overheard the Baron's speech, but he took no notice
of it. At dinner, he seemed inclined to be silent. The Baron asked him
questions about his discoveries, to which he gave rather short
answers, but Sabina gathered that he had found something extraordinary
in Carthage. She did not know where Carthage was, and did not like to
ask, but she remembered that Marius had sat there among some ruins.
Perhaps Malipieri had found his bones, for no one had ever told her
that Marius did not continue to sit among the ruins to his dying day.