"Cirotta tried to get away. His small eyes hidden in the folds of a disdainful grimace, he shook his black bullet head, and stubbornly refused to repeat the offending words. Meta then shouted out in a loud voice:
"'He says that he has known the sweetness of my wife's caresses!'
"'H'm,' said the people, 'this is no joking matter; this requires serious attention. Be calm, Luigi. You are a stranger in our parts; your wife belongs here. We all knew her as a child, and if you have been wronged her guilt falls equally on all of us. Let us be outspoken!'
"They all gathered round Cirotta.
"'Did you say it?'
"'Well, yes, I did,' he admitted.
"'And is it the truth?'
"'Who has ever known me tell a lie?'
"Cirotta was a respectable man—a husband and a father; the matter was taking a very serious turn. Those present were perplexed and seemed to be thinking hard. Luigi went home and said to Concetta:
"'I am going away! I don't want you any more unless you can prove that the words of this scoundrel are a calumny.'