The blow was too sudden for me to be able at first to grasp the truth.
"Pregnant?" I stammered.
My mother took my hands
"Well, well, Tullio?"
"I did not know."
"You frighten me. So the doctor——"
"Yes, the doctor——"
"Come, Tullio, sit down."
She made me sit down on the divan. She looked at me with fear, waiting for me to speak. For several moments, although she was before my eyes, I ceased to see her. Then, suddenly, a brutal light burst in on my mind, and the drama was all clear to me.
Where did I find the strength to resist? What preserved my reason? Without doubt I drew from the very excess of my pain and horror the heroic sentiment that saved me.