Laura did not answer.
"Don't you dare to answer? Oh, see how base you are! See how perfidious you are. What manner of woman are you? Why did you do it?"
"Because I love Cesare."
"O Lord, Lord!" cried Anna, breaking into desperate sobs.
"Don't you know it? Haven't your eyes seen it? haven't your ears heard it? Do you imagine that a woman such as I am goes into a man's room if she doesn't love him! That she lets him kiss her, that she kisses him, unless she loves him! What more have you to ask! I love Cesare."
"Be quiet, be quiet, be quiet," said Anna.
"And Cesare loves me," Laura went on.
"Be quiet. You are my sister. You are a young girl. Don't speak such an infamy. Be quiet. Don't say that you and Cesare are two monsters."
"You have seen us together. I love Cesare, and he loves me."