"That is all. Good-bye， my dear."

    There was no signature， but a verse which they had learned together as children was written under the letter：

    "Then am I

    A happy fly，

    If I live

    Or if I die."

    Half an hour later Martini entered the room， and， startled out of the silence of half a life-time， threw down the placard he was carrying and flung his arms about her.

    "Gemma！ What is it， for God's sake？ Don't sob like that —— you that never cry！ Gemma！ Gemma， my darling！"

    "Nothing， Cesare； I will tell you afterwards —— I —— can't talk about it just now."

    She hurriedly slipped the tear-stained letter into her pocket； and， rising， leaned out of the window to hide her face. Martini held his tongue and bit his moustache. After all these years he had betrayed himself like a schoolboy —— and she had not even noticed it！

    "The Cathedral bell is tolling，" she said after a little while， looking round with recovered self-command. "Someone must be dead."

    "That is what I came to show you，" Martini answered in his everyday voice. He picked up the placard from the floor and handed it to her. Hastily printed in large type was a black-bordered announcement that： "Out dearly beloved Bishop， His Eminence the Cardinal， Monsignor Lorenzo Montanelli，" had died suddenly at Ravenna， "from the rupture of an aneurism of the heart."

    She glanced up quickly from the paper. And Martini answered the unspoken suggestion in her eyes with a shrug of his shoulders.

    "What would you have， Madonna？ Aneurism is as good a word as any other."

    NEW WORDS

    epilogue n.  the last part of a piece of literature 尾声，后记，跋

    gadfly n.  a fly that bites cattle 牛虻

    legible a.  （of handwriting or print） that can be reed， esp. easily

    blur vt. make less clear； dim

    misty a.  clouded with or as if with mist

    childish a.  of or typical of a child； immature

    nickname n.  a name used informally instead or a person's own name or a name connected with one's character or history

    bereavement n.  loss of relative or friend by death （亲人等的）丧失

    afreshad. once more from the beginning； again desperation n.  the state of being desperate； a hopeless or reckless feeling  拚命；绝望

    clod n.  a lump or mass， esp. of clay 土块

    earth-clod n. mackerel n.  a striped sea fish often used as food 鲭鱼

    variety show杂耍