"He cannot walk with her here. He cannot even walk with her down the street of Marechiaro alone. It would be a shame."
"But there is no harm in it."
"Who knows? It is not our custom. We walk with our friends and the girls walk with their friends. If Salvatore, the father of Maddalena, knew—"
He did not finish his sentence, but, with sudden and startling violence, made the gesture of drawing out a knife and thrusting it upward into the body of an adversary. Maurice stopped on the path. He felt as if he had seen a murder.
"Ecco!" said Gaspare, calmly, dropping his hand, and staring into Maurice's face with his enormous eyes, which never fell before the gaze of another.
"But—but—I mean no harm to Maddalena."
"It does not matter."
"But she did not tell me. She is ready to talk with me."
"She is a silly girl. She is flattered to see a stranger. She does not think. Girls never think."
He spoke with utter contempt: