This was possible, and even probable. Margaret looked after the broad figure.
'Dear old Stromboli!' she laughed.
'He has the kindest heart in the world,' said little Fräulein Ottilie
Braun.
'He is no a musician,' observed Herr Tiefenbach; 'but he does not sing out of tune.'
'He is a lunatic,' said Schreiermeyer gravely. 'All tenors are lunatics—except about money,' he added thoughtfully.
'I think Stromboli is very sensible,' said Margaret, turning to Griggs. 'He brings his little Calabrian wife and her baby out with him, and they take a small house for the winter and Italian servants, and live just as if they were in their own country and see only their Italian friends—instead of being utterly wretched in a horrible hotel.'
'For the modest consideration of a hundred dollars a day,' put in
Griggs, who was a poor man.
'I wish my bills were never more than that!' Margaret laughed.
'Yes,' said Schreiermeyer, still thoughtful. 'Stromboli understands money. He is a man of business. He makes his wife cook for him.'
'I often cook for myself,' said Fräulein Ottilie quite simply. 'If I had a husband, I would cook for him too!' She laughed like a child, without the slightest sourness. 'It is easier to cook well than to marry at all, even badly!'