“Yes, dear, I am going to the notary’s.”
“Oh! to the notary’s. That is a serious business.”
“You will soon learn, Miss Tease. Sofia, come with me for a moment.”
“And has Sofia, too, some dark dealings with the notary?”
“Lulu, when will you learn to be serious?”
“Very soon, mama; you will see.”
She opened the door for her mother and sister to pass out, made two low courtesies, murmuring: “Madame, Mademoiselle!” When they had left the room she called to them from the threshold, with a burst of laughter:
“Talk, talk away! I will pretend that I know nothing about it.”
II
As a general thing Roberto Montefranco was not a great thinker; he had not time to be. What with luncheons, horseback rides, calls, and dinners, his days flew by, and his evenings he passed pleasantly with his fiancée, Lulu. Then there were tiresome matters to be attended to, some appointments with his lawyer, contracts to be signed, some old debts to be settled, to say nothing of preparations for his house and for the wedding trip. He had barely time even for his half-hour’s reading and fifteen minutes’ loitering at the door of his café. So he was never seen absorbed in profound reflection, nor was he ever known to be engaged in solving some social problem, for Roberto had nothing of the tragic or heroic in his character. Rather, he was of a serene temperament, and many envied him for it.