eight
o'clock
In truth , he had kept well to his promises ! He was on his way to a dinner with friends and _ demi-mondaines _ and , doubtless , would go home with Clara Green afterwards . His regret was so poignant , so intolerable , that he dressed with unwonted rapidity , jumped into his brougham and arrived at the hotel before the appointed time . He found Clara ready and waiting , and offered her a drive round the streets of Rome to pass the time till eight o'clock . They drove through the Via del Babuino , round the obelisk in the Piazza del Popolo , along the Corso and to the right down the Via della Fontanella di Borghese , returning by the Montecitorio to the Corso which they followed as far as the Piazza di Venezia and so to the Teatro Nazionale . Clara kept up an incessant chatter , bending , every other minute , towards her companion to press a kiss on the corner of his mouth , screening the furtive caress behind a fan of white feathers which gave out a delicate odour of ` white rose . ' But Andrea appeared not to hear her , and even her caress only drew from him a slight smile . '