When he heard her voice he could have screamed for gladness. When he saw her enter with the flasks of wine on her shoulders he laughed for very joy and kissed her feet for shame.
'I have brought the quinine and good Lacrima,' she said to him joyfully, yet with a tinge of reproachfulness in her voice. 'Why did you doubt me? I do not tell lies.'
'Forgive me! Hunted creatures doubt their own shadows. You sold the herbs well, then?'
'Ah, yes! so well, and to a kind old man who promised me that these would soon give you back your strength.'
'You never told him of me?'
'I did not tell him of you, of course; only that some one had had the marsh-fever and could not get health again. I had to go to Orbetello; that is what has made me so late.'
'What can I say to you? How can I repay you?'
'Ah! I want nothing but to see you well. You have suffered so long and so much.'
'Yes, I have suffered. But I do not see why you should care,' he said, using the
