“I don’t know.”
After an instant he resumed quietly—
“Let us remain in Rome.”
She trembled, and raised her eyebrows slightly.
“In Rome? In Rome in August?”
“If we can’t go anywhere else,” he added, without noticing Maria’s surprise.
“You renounce the holiday and travelling which we have had every year, Marco! Do you renounce them willingly?”
“Willingly,” he replied, with complete resignation.
Why did he not look her in the face? He would have seen the lines discompose under the wave of bitterness which invaded them, and then suddenly with heroic force recompose themselves. Instead, he only heard a proud, cold voice which accepted the renunciation.
“Let us remain in Rome.”