"That's Fra Silvano's office."
"Does he fulfil it?"
"Not very well, I'm afraid. He chatters and laughs with them too much."
"I should like to see him chatter and laugh with my maids," said Vittoria, kindling. "He should not do so twice."
"Ah," said Giulia, after a pause—"I wish I were as good as you, Vittoria—"
"My dear soul, I am not good."
"You are a great deal better than I am. Such as I am, I am and ever shall be."
"Hush, we can none of us say that!"
"At any rate, there is no good thing in me, to impart to others. And the girls do very well as they are—they stick to their needles."
"What do they think of the while?"