The conquest of Rome

by Matilde Serao

'When will you come back?'

'That I cannot tell. My time is not my own. I will come back when I can.'

'You can come back soon if you want to, Angelica. Anyhow, can you not mention an hour or a day?'

'What for? Do you find waiting for me tiresome? Is this not your home?'

'Yes, but at least name a day——'

'Oh, then, you do not like waiting for me! You have more amusing things to do.'

'No, Angelica, nothing.'

'Well, then?'

'Well—if you only knew, Angelica, how sad I feel when I do not know the day or the hour that I am to see you again! This vague expectation is torture—it is a nightmare! You would be sorry for me, Angelica, if you knew how it makes my heart and my brain suffer. Even if you intend to delude me, or you cannot come, still, name a day.'

'To-day is Sunday,' she reflected. 'To-morrow I cannot come, nor the day after, nor Wednesday; all my time is taken up those days. Thursday—yes, you may count on seeing me on Thursday——'