This he added to avert possible ill fortune. Marietta instantly thought of Zorzi. She leaned forward upon the window-sill above the flowers and spoke anxiously.
"What has happened? Tell me quickly!"
"A man has had his foot badly burned—it must be dressed at once."
"Who is it?"
"Zorzi."
Pasquale saw that Marietta started a little and drew back. Then she leaned forward again.
"Wait there a minute," she said, and disappeared quickly.
The porter heard her calling Nella from an inner room, and then he heard Nella's voice indistinctly. He waited before the open door.
Nella was a born chatterer, but she had her good qualities, and in an emergency she was silent and skilful.
"Leave it to me," she said. "He will need no surgeon."