“And your mother, the signora, how wrong of me not to have inquired after her. I trust she is well?”
“Quite well, signor,” she replied. “She often talks of you. She is at Sorrento to-day, but she may be back at any minute. She would have liked to have seen you, signor, to have thanked you for your great goodness to us.”
“Nonsense,” said Henderson, hurriedly. “It is the other way round. My thanks are due to you. Had it not been for your face, Teresina, my picture would never have been such a success. Do you know that several ladies, great ladies in England, said that they would give anything to be so beautiful? I don’t think I shall ever do a better piece of work than that.”
He had just said this when he noticed that a young man, tall, slim, and very dark, had approached them unperceived, and was now glaring angrily at him. Teresina had also become aware of his presence, and was visibly affected by it. Whereas only a moment before she had been all sunshine and delight at seeing Henderson once more, now she was quite the reverse.
“Is this man a friend of yours?” Godfrey asked, in English. “He seems to be put out about something.”
“It is only Tomasso Dardini,” she answered, as if the explanation were sufficient. “He is quick-tempered, but he means no harm.”
“Then I wish to goodness he’d go away; he glares as if he would like to eat me. If I may hazard a guess, Teresina, I should say that he is in love with you.”
“He is very foolish,” she answered, and a flush spread over her face. “Some day, if he is not very careful, he will get into trouble.”
“I should not be at all surprised to hear it,” Godfrey replied.
Then, turning to the man in question, he signed to him to be off about his business. For a moment the youth seemed inclined to refuse, but presently he thought better of it, and marched off down the street, looking back now and again as if to see whether the Englishman and the girl were still conversing together.