"We are not rich yet, but we can be. It's the first step, which is everything, my dear! Our five shares are each worth 1200 lire. They may go up even higher, but I intend to sell out to-morrow. Half the money I shall give to you; with the other half I'll make another venture. Fortune, it seems, is only a matter of will. But you mustn't be frightened!" he ended, for Regina had turned pale.
"Why did you never tell me about it?"
"What was the use? Suppose the shares had gone down?"
As on that former evening, which rose obstinately before Regina's memory, the maid interrupted by announcing dinner, and the young pair went into the next room. By the lamp-light Antonio again noticed Regina's pallor, but he jested.
"Don't fly away on the wings of Pegasus!"
They talked a little of the morality and the opportunities of speculation, of risks and lotteries.
"Nonsense!" said Antonio. "All life is a lottery. We must risk something or die. And now we'll go out for our walk."
Next day he sold the shares, after having shown them to Regina, and gave her 3000 lire. She put 2000 in the savings bank; with the rest she bought furniture, and provided for the birth and christening of her baby.