'
'_Ora pro nobis!_' replied Musellaro, Barbarisi, and Grimiti in chorus.
The women laughed though they did not understand. Clara smiled, and
slipping out of her cloak appeared in a white dress, quite simple and
short, with a V-shaped opening back and front, a knot of sea-green
ribbon on her left shoulder, and emeralds in her ears, perfectly
unabashed by the triple scrutiny of Giulia Arici, Bebe Silva and Maria
Fortuna.
Musellaro and Grimiti were old acquaintances; Barbarisi was introduced.
Andrea proceeded--'Mercedes Silva, surnamed Bebe--_chica pero qualsa_.
'Maria Fortuna, a veritable _Fortuna publica_ for our Rome which has the
good fortune to possess her.'
Then, turning to Barbarisi--'Do us the honour to present us to this lady
who is, if I am not mistaken, the divine Giulia Farnese.'
'No--Arici,' Giulia broke in.
'Oh, I beg your pardon, but really, to believe that, I should have to
call upon all my powers of credulity and to consult Pinturicchio in the
Fifth Room.'
He uttered these absurdities with a grave smile, amusing himself by
bewildering and teasing these pretty fools. In the _demi-monde_ he
adopted a manner and style entirely his own, using grotesque phrases,
launching the most ridiculous paradoxes or atrocious impertinences under
cover of the ambiguity of his words; and all this in most original
language, rich in a thousand different flavours, like a Rabelaisian
_olla podrida_ full of strong spices and succulent morsels.
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