"Yes, I know, but—"
"But you thought we did not want you. Well, then, you do not know us!"
"Now, Gaspare, don't be angry again. Remember that the padrona has gone away and that I depend on you for everything."
At the last words Gaspare's face, which had been lowering, brightened up a little. But he was not yet entirely appeased.
"You have Maddalena," he said.
"She is only a girl."
"Oh, girls are very nice."
"Don't be ridiculous, Gaspare. I hardly know Maddalena."
Gaspare laughed; not rudely, but as a boy laughs who is sure he knows the world from the outer shell to inner kernel.
"Oh, signore, why did you go down to the sea instead of coming to the festa?"