“Yesterday?” said Aaron. “I went to the Uffizi.”

“To the Uffizi? Well! And what did you think of it?”

“Very fine.”

“I think it is. I think it is. What pictures did you look at?”

“I was with Dekker. We looked at most, I believe.”

“And what do you remember best?”

“I remember Botticelli's Venus on the Shell.”

“Yes! Yes!—” said Manfredi. “I like her. But I like others better. You thought her a pretty woman, yes?”

“No—not particularly pretty. But I like her body. And I like the fresh air. I like the fresh air, the summer sea-air all through it—through her as well.”

“And her face?” asked the Marchesa, with a slow, ironic smile.