“Difficult? Very bad, mother, a shocking character! I shall die, and no one will understand it.”

“You must live; you must begin your life again, Vittoria, and try to lead my son. He must love you.”

“He can’t.”

“He can’t?”

“No. He can’t love me.”

“But why?”

“Because he loved the other.”

“Can’t one love two women, one after the other?”

“It seems not.”

“Still he has always liked you.”