He put out his hand nervously, and then withdrew it, not finding Veronica's, but before he had quite taken it back, hers came forward, and hesitated in the air.
Then he took it, and both smiled in momentary embarrassment over the incident, and a little at the thought of having shaken hands at all, for it is a custom reserved in the south for married women.
"Do you mind if I go on trying this song ?" asked Bianca, sitting down to the piano again.

"Talk as much as you please," she added.

"I do not know it--I only wish to look it over." Veronica was surprised at the ease and simplicity with which matters were arranged, and in a few seconds she found herself sitting beside Gianluca, on a narrow sofa at some distance from Bianca and Ghisleri.
Gianluca looked at her sideways, and then a moment later she looked at him; but their eyes did not meet.

She had only glanced at him once, and for an instant after they had sat down, side by side, but she had got a good view of his face in that one look.

It was evident to her that he was really ill, whatever might be the cause of his illness.