"They've got plenty of soldi."
Lucrezia nodded, not without personal pride.
"Gaspare says—"
"Oh, I know as much as Gaspare," interrupted Sebastiano, brusquely. "The signora is my friend. When she was here before I saw her many times. But for me she would never have taken the Casa del Prete."
"Why was that?" asked Lucrezia, with reverence.
"They told her in Marechiaro that it was not safe for a lady to live up here alone, that when the night came no one could tell what would happen."
"But, Gaspare—"
"Does Gaspare know every grotto on Etna? Has Gaspare lived eight years with the briganti? And the Mafia—has Gaspare—"
He paused, laughed, pulled his mustache, and added:
"If the signora had not been assured of my protection she would never have come up here."