And now arose a shout and an outbreak of rapture which caused Natalie to
tremble with anxious timidity. She cast a searching glance around her;
it seemed to her that Paulo must come to her relief, that he must rescue
and redeem her from the enthusiastic and flattering men who surrounded
her. She saw him not! Where was Paulo, where was Carlo? These
inquisitive lord cardinals had formed a circle around her, she seemed
to herself a prisoner; it alarmed her to thus find herself the central
point of all these attractions.
Not far from her stood Corilla, with glowing cheeks and anger-flashing
eyes.
"I will avenge this affront or die!" thought she, as, grasping Albani's
hand with convulsive violence, she whispered to him: "Free me from this
woman, and I will realize all your wishes."
Francesco Albani smiled. "Then you are mine, Corilla, and no power on
earth shall take you from me. That child is dead. See, see how she makes
herself a path through the crowd--ah, it is too sultry for her here in
the hall, she approaches the garden door, she slips out. Ah, give me
your hand, Corilla. Yet a few moments and the fairest woman on earth is
mine!"
Light as a gazelle, timid and trembling, Natalie had fled the crowd, and
now, stepping out into the garden, she breathed easier, it seeming to
her that she had escaped a danger.
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