"Birbante!"
"It is good to be birbante sometimes."
He went out from the trees and Maurice heard his voice, then a man's, then Maddalena's. He waited where he was till he heard Gaspare say:
"The padrone is just behind. Signorino, where are you?"
"Here!" he answered, coming into the open with a careless air.
Before the cottage door in the sunshine a great fishing-net was drying, fastened to two wooden stakes. Near it stood Salvatore, dressed in a dark-blue jersey, with a soft black hat tilted over his left ear, above which was stuck a yellow flower. Maddalena was in the doorway looking very demure. It was evident that the wink of Gaspare had been seen and comprehended. She stole a glance at Maurice but did not move. Her father took off his hat with an almost wildly polite gesture, and said, in a loud voice:
"Buona sera, signore."
"Buona sera," replied Maurice, holding out his hand.
Salvatore took it in a large grasp.
"You are the signore who lives up on Monte Amato with the English lady?"