The continued strain on her nerves had broken her down, and she lay on the floor in a dead faint.

Nino put a cushion from the lounge under her head, and rang the bell.

The servant appeared instantly.
"Bring water quickly!" he cried.

"The signora has fainted." He stood looking at the senseless figure of the woman, as she lay across the rich Persian rugs that covered the floor.
"Why did you not bring salts, cologne, her maid--run, I tell you!" he said to the man, who brought the glass of water on a gilded tray.

He had forgotten that the fellow could not be expected to have any sense.
When her people came at last, he had sprinkled her face, and she had unconsciously swallowed enough of the water to have some effect in reviving her.