For his friend, he said, was soon to make his appearance on the stage, and of course he could not be heard singing before that.

And as the young lady insisted, Nino grew silent, and remarked that the lesson was not progressing.

Thereupon Hedwig blushed--the first time he had ever seen her blush--and did not approach the subject again.
After that he went to the house of the baroness, where he was evidently expected, for the servant asked his name and immediately ushered him into her presence.

She was one of those lithe, dark women of good race, that are to be met with all over the world, and she has broken many a heart.

But she was not like a snake at all, as Nino had thought at first.