The girls for their parts defended Alfio against that ugly Wasp; and Nunziata felt her heart swell with contempt at the way they scorned Alfio, only because he was poor and alone in the world, and all of a sudden she said to Mena:
“If I was grown up I’d marry him, so I would, if they’d let me.”
Mena was going to say something herself, but she changed the subject suddenly.
“Are you going to town for the All Souls’ festa?”
“No. I can’t leave the house all alone.”
“We are to go if the business of the lupins goes well; grandpapa says so.”
Then she thought a minute and added:
“Cousin Alfio, he’s going too, to sell his nuts at the fair.”
And the girls sat silent, thinking of the Feast of All Souls, and how Alfio was going there to sell his nuts.
“Old Uncle Crucifix, how quietly he puts Vespa in his pocket,” began Cousin Anna, all over again.