"You're looking at the major-domo?" he asked.
"You are a keen observer," she smiled in reply.
"He's a type, our major-domo, Giuseppe. He used to be major-domo in the palace of an Austrian archduke. He did I don't know what. Stole something, perhaps. Or was impertinent. Or dropped a spoon on the floor. He has come down in the world. Now you behold him in the Pension Belloni. But the dignity of the man!"
He leant forward:
"The marchesa is economical. All the servants here are either old or very young. It's cheaper."
He bowed to two German ladies, a mother and daughter, who had come in and sat down beside him:
"I have the permit which I promised you, to see the Palazzo Rospigliosi and Guido Reni's Aurora," he said, speaking in German.
"Is the prince back then?"
"No, the prince is in Paris. The palace is not open to visitors, except yourselves."
This was said with a gallant bow.