‘Oh, I say, please don’t go! Stay and talk to me—just a little while. That calf isn’t half so lonely as I am.’
‘I should like to, but really I mustn’t. Elizabetta is waiting for me to bring her some eggs. We are planning a trip up the Maggiore to-morrow, and we have to have a cake to take with us. Elizabetta made one this morning, but she forgot to put in the baking powder. Italian cooks are not used to making cakes; they are much better at’—her eyes fell on the calf—‘veal and such things.’
He folded his arms with an air of desperation.
‘I’m an American—one of your own countrymen; if you had a grain of charity in your nature you would let the cake go.’
She shook her head relentlessly.
‘Five days at Valedolmo! You would not believe the straits I’ve been driven to in search of amusement.’
‘Yes?’ There was a touch of curiosity in her tone. ‘What for example?’
‘I am teaching Gustavo how to play tennis.’
‘Oh!’ she said. ‘How does he do?’
‘Broken three windows and a flower-pot and lost four balls.’