“Yes, Padrona,” replied the Italian, in a trembling voice. “I beg your excellenza to dismiss me.”
“Dismiss you from my service?”
“With your excellenza’s permission, yes—from your service.”
The old woman started, clasped her hands tightly upon her fan, and said:
“You are irritable, Belotti.”
“No, Padrona, but I am old and dread the misfortune of being ill in this house.”
Fraulein Van Hoogstraten shrugged her shoulders and turning to her maid, cried:
“The sedan-chair, Denise. You are dismissed, Belotti.”