The Baron thought. "She is going to humble the man by her charms--to
draw him on and then fling him away, and thus pay him back for what he
has done to-day. So much the better for me if I may stand by and do
nothing. A strong Minister should be unmoved by personal attacks. He
should appear to regard them with contempt."
He looked at her, and the brilliancy of her eyes set his heart on fire.
The terrible attraction of her face at that moment stirred in him the
only love he had for her. At the same time it awakened the first spasm
of jealousy.
"I understand you, Roma," he said. "You are splendid! You are
irresistible! But remember--the man is one of the incorruptible."
She laughed.
"No woman who has yet crossed his path seems to have touched him, and it
is the pride of all such men that no woman ever can."
"I've seen him," she said.
"Take care! As you say, he is young and handsome."
She tossed her head and laughed again.
The Baron thought: "Certainly he has wounded her in a way no woman can
forgive."
"And what about Bruno?" he said.
"He shall stay," she answered. "Such men are easy enough to manage."
"You wish me to liberate David Rossi and leave you to deal with him?"
"I do! Oh, for the day when I can turn the laugh against him as he has
turned the laugh against me! At the top of his hopes, at the height of
his ambitions, at the moment when he says to himself, 'It is done'--he
shall fall."
The Baron touched the bell. "Very well!" he said. "One can sometimes
catch more flies with a spoonful of honey than with a hogshead of
vinegar. We shall see."
A moment later the Chief of Police entered the room. "The Honourable
Rossi is safely lodged in prison," he said.
"Commendatore," said the Baron, pointing to the book lying open on the
table, "I have been looking again at the statute, and now I am satisfied
that a Deputy can be arrested by the authorisation of Parliament alone."
"But, Excellency, if he is taken in the act, according to the
forty-fifth article, the parliamentary immunity ceases."
"Commendatore, I have given you my opinion, and now it is my wish that
the Honourable David Rossi should be set at liberty."