Quietly robed in dead-leaf silk, she wore a large hat, which alone looked somewhat extravagant.

And seeing that Dario was staring at her, the priest inquired her name, whereat the young Prince smiled.

Oh! she was nobody, La Tonietta was the name that people gave her; she was one of the few _demi-mondaines_ that Roman society talked of.

Then, with the freeness and frankness which his race displays in such matters, Dario added some particulars.

La Tonietta's origin was obscure; some said that she was the daughter of an innkeeper of Tivoli, and others that of a Neapolitan banker.