"Signorino, why do you like to come here? What is the good of it?"
They had been walking in silence. Evidently these questions were the result of a process of thought which had been going on in the boy's mind.
"The good!" said Maurice. "What is the harm?"
"Well, here in Sicily, when a man goes to see a girl it is because he wants to love her."
"In England it is different, Gaspare. In England men and women can be friends. Why not?"
"You want just to be a friend of Maddalena?"
"Of course. I like to talk to the people. I want to understand them. Why shouldn't I be friends with Maddalena as—as I am with Lucrezia?"
"Oh, Lucrezia is your servant."
"It's all the same."
"But perhaps Maddalena doesn't know. We are Sicilians here, signore."