“Certainly she is free. I wish her to be free.”
“Va bene, Signora, va bene.”
A cloud came over his face, and he moved as if to go. But Hermione stopped him.
“Wait a minute, Gaspare. I want you to understand. I like your care for the Signorina. You know I trust you and depend on you more than on almost any one. But you must remember that I am English, and in England, you know, things in some ways are very different from what they are in Sicily. Any English girl would be allowed the freedom of the Signorina.”
“Why?”
“Why not? What harm does it do? The Signorina does not go to Naples alone.”
“Per Dio!” he interrupted, in a tone almost of horror.
“Of course I should never allow that. But here on the island—why, what could happen to her here? Come, Gaspare, tell me what it is you are thinking of. You haven’t told me yet. I knew directly you came in that you had something you wanted to say. What is it?”
“I know it is not my business,” he said. “And I should never speak to the Signorina, but—”
“Well, Gaspare?”