"A thousand pardons, your excellency," rejoined Michel, frantic with rage. "I am afraid of the wind myself."
"What does he say?" the old man asked Pier-Angelo.
"He says that your excellency's carriage is at the door," replied Pier, struggling hard to keep from roaring with laughter.
"Very good; I will hire him by the day, with you, when I have work for you."
"Oh! father!" cried Michel, as soon as the old nobleman had gone, "how can you laugh? That impertinent man treats you like a footman, and you accept such treatment with a smile!"
"It makes you angry," said Pier, "but why? I am laughing at your anger and not at the goodman's lack of ceremony. Didn't I promise to help the people of the house in every way? I happen to be here; he asks me for his great-coat; he is old, infirm, foolish—three reasons why I should take pity on him. And why should I despise him, pray?"
"Because he despises you!"
"According to your ideas, but not according to his conception of the things of this world. He is an old devotee, formerly a great rake. In the old days he seduced the daughters of the common people; to-day he bestows alms on the poor mothers. God will forgive him for his early sins, beyond any doubt. Why should I be more straitlaced than the good Lord! I tell you that the differences which social customs create among men are neither so important nor so real as you think, my child. They are all disappearing little by little, and if those who are inordinately sensitive would be a little less stiff, all those barriers would soon be nothing but empty words. For my part I laugh at those who consider themselves so much better than I am, and I never lose my temper. It is not in any man's power to humiliate me, so long as I am at peace with my conscience."
"Do you know, father, that you are invited to dine with the Marquis della Serra on the day after to-morrow?"
"Yes, that is understood," replied Pier-Angelo, coolly. "I accepted this invitation because he is not tiresome like most of the great nobles. Ah! what a price some of them would have to pay me to induce me to pass a couple of hours with them! But the marquis is a man of intellect. Do you mean to go there with me? Don't accept unless you choose, Michel; do you understand? You must not stand on ceremony with any one if you wish to retain your openness of heart."