'Do not tell lies. Can you say before me and your daughter that you won't use the money for the lottery?'
'Do not speak to me like that, Luisella!' he stammered out, with tears in his eyes.
'You want them to stake on the lottery with. Have the courage of your vices; don't load your conscience with lies,' his wife answered with the cruelty of desperation.
'It is not a vice, Luisa; it is for good ends I gambled, for good motives, for your sake and Agnesina's.'
'A father of a family does not gamble.'
'It was to open the new shop in San Ferdinando Square. Seventy thousand francs were needed for it, and I had not got it. You know all our money is in use.'
'A family man ought not to play.'
'It was for the happiness of us all, Luisella. I swear to you, believe me, it was because of my love for Agnesina.'
'You don't love her. If you cared for her, you would not gamble.'
'Luisella, don't humiliate me—don't make me out mean. Be kind. You know how much I loved you—how I do love you!'