"Good reason, too. Good-night, John!" said David Rossi, and Joseph closed the door.
"Oh, she has her virtues, like every other kind of spider," said Bruno.
"I'm sorry I spoke of her," said David Rossi.
"You needn't be, though. She deserved all she got. I haven't been two years in her studio without knowing what she is."
"It was the man I was thinking of, and if I had remembered that the woman must suffer...."
"Tut! She'll have to make her Easter confession a little earlier, that's all."
"If she hadn't laughed when I was speaking...."
"You're on the wrong track now, sir. That wasn't Donna Roma. It was the little Princess Bellini. She is always stretching her neck and screeching like an old gandery goose."
Dinner was now over, and the boy called for the phonograph. David Rossi went into the sitting-room to fetch it, and Elena went in at the same time to light the fire. She was kneeling with her back to him, blowing on to the wood, when she said in a trembling voice:
"I'm a little sorry myself, sir, if I may say so. I can't believe what they say about the mistress, but even if it's true we don't know her story, do we?"