“Drink an iced lemonade and go home. I shall sleep until dinner-time.”
“Bene, I will go home with you;” she suppressed a sigh.
“Oh! my poor heart, what a continual sacrifice,” whispered Caterina, as she embraced her friend.
A little later, Alberto passed alone through the Didactic section, and calling Caterina aside, said to her:
“When you have finished, Signora Lieti, you will find Lucia in the park, quite alone, near the lake; she is there thinking, dear soul. She pined for air, so I took her there and left her. I’m not a selfish man, and I’m going away to sleep. Can you go soon?”
“As soon as I can.”
Alberto went off on those weak legs of his, of which the trousers were always baggy, turning up the collar of his coat because he was perspiring. He came upon Andrea in the Hemp section, in the midst of a group of exhibitors who were accompanying the Prime Minister.
“When you’ve done here, go into the park, where you’ll find your Signora with mine, awaiting you in the little shrubbery by the lake. But make haste. I’m going home to sleep. Is there a bar here?”
“Yes, on the ground-floor.”