“Signora!”
“You have trouble in your house. Have you ever brought trouble to any one? Have you?”
Maddalena stared at her with dilated eyes, but made no answer.
“Tell me something.” Hermione leaned forward. “You know my servant, Gaspare?”
Maddalena was silent.
“You know Gaspare. Did you know him in Sicily?”
“Sicily?” Her face and her voice had become stupid. “Sicily?” she repeated.
The parrot shifted on the board, lifted its left claw, and craned its head forward in the direction of the two women. The tram-bell sounded its reiterated appeal.
“Yes, in Sicily. You are a Sicilian?”
“Who says so?”