“I don’t know.... I feel miserable.”
“Oh! poor, poor thing. Now listen to me, you’d better come with me and try to amuse yourself. You will injure your health by always staying in this dark room, in this perfumed atmosphere.”
“My health is gone, Caterina,” said the other in a comfortless tone; “every day I get thinner.”
“Because you do not eat, dear; you ought to eat; Andrea says so too.”
“What does Andrea say,” said Lucia, in a tone of indifference, which annoyed Caterina.
“That you should eat nutritious food, drink plenty of wine and eat underdone meat.”
“I am not a cannibal. That kind of diet does very well for muscular organisms, but not for fragile nerve-tissues like mine.”
“But Andrea says that nerves are cured by beefsteaks.”
“It’s no good trying; I couldn’t digest them; I can’t digest anything now.”
“Well, do dress, and come with me. The cold is quite reviving.”