"
"Hast thou another worse than thyself that can be named," cried he of the
crowd.
"A score, and thou shalt be of the number. My blessing on the fair bride!
thrice happy is she that hath a right to receive the benediction from one
of so honest life as the merry Pippo. Speak not I the truth, figligiola?"
Christine perceived that the hand of her companion was coldly releasing
her own, and she felt the creeping sensation of the blood which is the
common attendant of extreme and humiliating shame. Still she bore up
against the weakness, with that deep reliance on the justice of others
which is usually the most strongly seated in those who are the most
innocent; and she followed the procession, in its circuit, with a step
whose trembling was mistaken for no more than the embarrassment natural to
her situation.
At this moment, as the mummers were wheeling past the town-house, and the
air was filled with music, while a general movement stirred the multitude,
a cry of alarm arose in the building. It was immediately succeeded by such
a rush of bodies towards the spot, as indicates, in a throng, a sudden
and general interest in some new and extraordinary event.
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