Oswald, dismally repentant, handed Castel Forte a letter to Corinne in which he begged permission to see her.

"I accompanied Corinne to Massot's.

She no longer looked dowdy when entering a room, but very much the reverse; and the little Florentine world began to recognise that they had got something very much like a new Corinne among them.

On the evening of the next day, Oswald was introduced to Corinne at her own house by the Count d'Erfeuil, a Frenchman who had been his companion in the journey into Italy.

Castel Forte had told Corinne of the reserve and coldness that separated Lucy from her husband.