"What did I tell you the other day, Ruggiero?" she asked, still smiling.
"You were to call me Signorina. Do you remember?"
"Yes, Signorina. I beg pardon."
Beatrice saw that Teresina had not yet left the cabin with her bag, and that Bastianello was loitering before the door, pretending or really trying to help her.
"Do you know what Teresina has been telling me, Ruggiero?" asked Beatrice, stopping entirely and turning towards him as they stood in the narrow way between Ruggiero's boat and the one lying next to her.
"Of Bastianello, Signorina?"
"Yes. That she wants to marry him. She told me while I was dressing. You know?"
"Yes, Signorina, and I laughed when he told me the story the other day, over there on the pier."
"I heard you laughing, Ruggiero," answered Beatrice, remembering the unpleasant impression she had received when she had looked down from the terrace. His huge mirth had come up as a sort of shock to her in the midst of her own trouble. "Why did you laugh?" she asked.
"Must I tell you, Signorina?"
"Yes."