THE STORY OF A PICTURE

 CHAPTER II.
OVEi and over again, did Giovanni Selvico fancy
what the meeting of the next morning would be,
at one time thinking that his brother would
receive him with affection, and that the friendship
which had once existed between them, would be re-
vived; but at another time he thought that perhaps
Signor Selvico was only curious to see what changes
his altered fortune had made in him, that he would
receive him with chilling coldness, and that after the
meeting they would remain as far separated from each
other as ever. These thoughts still occupied his mind,
when, after a brief rest, he rose, and saw the early
light of summer creeping into his room. The hours
seemed to him more than double their usual length, as
he waited impatiently for the time appointed for the
interview, and he felt it quite a relief when the old
clock in the cottage parlour told him that it was late
-enough for him to set out on his way to the castle.
 Arrived there,, he was conducted by the porter into
a large oak-panelled room in a part of the building
which was of more recent date than the rest. He
waited there a long time, listening anxiously to every
sound or footstep without; but so great was his ex-
citement, that he scarcely knew whether he was in an
ordinary reception-room, a library, or a drawing-room,
nor could he afterwards have told whether a garden
or a courtyard lay outside the open window.
 At length he heard the sound of footsteps in the
passage outside; they drew nearer-stopped at the
door. The door was half .opened, when his heart beat
quickly, as he heard a voice that he knew as well as if
he had listened to it but the day before.
 "f My visitor is here ?"