“I will pay you handsomely; two pieces of St. John the Baptist; that is, ten livres of France.”
“I don’t know how we could manage it,” observed the man. “In the first place, the bench is so narrow that it will be scarcely possible to sit three; though I own, signorina, ’tis no great matter of room you will take up. In the next place, we are going only as far as the Mercato of Renigano, near Asti, which is only half-way to Alexandria.”
“No matter,” cried Teresa; “convey me only so far as to the gates of Asti. But we must set out this very night—this very moment.”
“Impossible! quite impossible!” exclaimed both husband and wife at the same moment. “We made no bargain of our night’s rest.”
“The sum shall be doubled,” said Teresa, in a lower voice, “if you will only oblige me.”
The man and the woman interchanged looks of interrogation. “No,” cried the wife, at last; “we shall fall ill of fatigue on the road. Besides, Losca and Zoppa want rest. Do you wish to kill the poor mules?”
“Four pieces, remember!” murmured the husband. “Four pieces!”
“What is that to the value of Losca and Zoppa!”
“Double price, recollect, for only half the fare, and no danger to the beasts.”