“Mah! ...”
“Repent at once, and we will be friends again, and you shall once more be my knight of the Exhibition. You do repent? Here is my pledge of peace.”
She separated a spray of lilies of the valley from the bunch at her waist and gave it to him. He placed it in his button-hole, and, taking her hand in his, tucked it under his arm....
“And you, Alberto, who are the mediator between us, will you have some lilies?”
“What should I do with them? I have no button-hole to this overcoat. You shall give me another pledge—a kiss ... when we get home.”
Andrea squeezed the arm that rested on his, so hard that it was all she could do to suppress a cry.
“Yes, yes,” she stammered, trembling.
“What is the average value of the Wine Show?” inquired Alberto, who possessed vineyards in Puglia which produced the noted Lagarese. This he said with the air of a connoisseur....
“Not much,” replied Andrea, with forced composure. “For the vine-growers have not all sent exhibits. You see, there are the special viticultural expositions. But there’s some good in that too.”
“Is this your wine, that the Prime Minister praised you for?”