They spoke in a low voice, bending a little over the table, looking distractedly, now at the beverages from which they had not sipped a drop, now a little to their right at the shore and the sea; but their glances seemed to be aware of nothing. Suddenly Lucio Sabini, fixing his worn-out eyes on those of Vittorio, questioned him more brightly, with his dull voice from which all timbre seemed extinguished.
"Are you happy, Vittorio?"
"I am not happy, but I am not unhappy," he replied, turning his head away, as if to hide the sudden expression of his face.
"Are you contented with that?"
"I have no choice of anything else," replied Vittorio, with a wan smile.
"And is Donna Livia happy?"
"She asks nothing else of life than to have me. She has me."
"Then all is well, Vittorio?"
"Yes, for Livia."
"And for you?"