She sat down in the same attitude as before, clasping her knees with her hands, and sank into thought.
"Why do you laugh?" she asked, again fixing her heavy gaze on Dio.
"I am not laughing, I am merely happy."
"What about?"
"I don't know. Simply because you have come."
"It's always 'simply' with you.... Do you imagine I am a little girl? .... What has he said to you about me?"
Dio understood that 'he' was Tuta.
"He said you were very clever and a beauty and that he loved you more than anything in the world."
"Nonsense! You just say this out of kindness.... You must have both been laughing at me. Has he told you that I play dolls?"
"No, he hasn't."