The doctors had reported that a week must pass before Marcello would be strong enough to undergo the operation, but he improved so quickly after he reached the hospital that it seemed useless to wait.

It was not considered to be a very dangerous operation, nor one which weakened the patient much.
Regina was not allowed to be present, and when Marcello had been wheeled out of his room, already under ether, she went and stood before the window, pressing down her clasped hands upon the marble sill with all her might, and resting her forehead against the green slats of the blind.

She did not move from this position while the nurse made Marcello's bed ready to receive him on his return.

It was long to wait.
The great clock in the square struck eleven some time after he had been taken away, then the quarter, then half-past.
Regina felt the blood slowly sinking to her heart.

She would have given anything to move now, but she could not stir hand or foot; she was cold, yet somehow she could not even shiver; that would have been a relief; any motion, any shock, any violent pain would have been a thousand times better than the marble stillness that was like a spell.
Far away on the Janiculum Folco Corbario sat in his splendid library alone, with strained eyes, waiting for the call of the telephone that stood on the polished table at his elbow.