“You shouldn’t. It is bad for a boy, and you are younger than I am, you know.”
The smile grew wider.
“What are you laughing at?”
“I don’t know, Signorina.”
“Do you think it is funny to be younger than I am?”
“Si, Signorina.”
“I suppose you feel quite as if you were a man?”
“If I could not work as well as a man Giuseppe would not have taken me into his boat. But of course with a lady it is all different. A lady does not have to work. Poor women get old very soon, Signorina.”
“Your mother, is she old?”
“My mamma! I don’t know. Yes, I suppose she is rather old.”