“You are not the public scavenger, are you?”
“Cleanliness is a commandment of the Lord!” Don Mario would reply.
And, having washed his hands, he sat down to the meagre supper of onion salad and bread as if it had been the daintiest of dishes.
“This is Donna Rosa’s oil; and do you know there is no more left?” said Don Ignazio one evening between two mouthfuls.
“To-morrow I will go to the Cavaliere!”
“But his father was a peasant farmer!”
“His grandfather was a day labourer!”
“And now he is made of money!”
“His grandfather became the Prince’s agent—and made his fortune.”
“Let us go to bed; the light is going out.”