'But does he not go to the Chamber?' asked Sangiorgio, yielding to inquisitiveness.
'Not always—not always,' answered the woman, with a malicious smile that spread all over her face.
'And what does one pay here?' Sangiorgio interrupted dryly.
'One hundred and eighty lire a month.'
'It seems dear.'
'No, sir; if you will inquire about prices, as you are a stranger, you will see it is not too high, in the middle of Rome, two steps from the Corso. I am not boasting, but the apartment is arranged in the best taste; I have always understood how to——'
And the porteress brushed down the fringe of the wig over her forehead. The deputy shrugged his shoulders.
'It is dear,' he insisted.
'You are not obliged to take it, you know, but if you want a large apartment with a door on the landing, furnished and comfortable, with a fireplace, and everybody minding their own business, that is convenience you will find nowhere else, and if you want all this in the Via del Gambero for less than a hundred and eighty lire, my dear sir, I assure you the thing is impossible. The deputy on the first floor came here four years ago, and was so well suited that he has remained ever since; the deputy on the second story came on the recommendation of a friend, and has already stayed two years. No one ever leaves. The dressmaker on the first floor has ladies of the aristocracy for her customers; there is always a carriage before our door.'