Ruggiero sat down on a bench in the garden, but
Bastianello went into the house.
In the corridor outside the Marchesa's rooms he met Teresina, who
stopped and spoke to him as she always did when she met him, for though
she admired both the brothers, she liked Bastianello better than she
knew--perhaps because he talked more and seemed to have a gentler
temper.
"Good-day, Bastianello," she said, with a bright smile.
"And good-day to you, Teresina," answered Bastianello. "Can you tell me
whether the padroni will go out to-day in the boat?"
"I think they will not," answered the girl. "But I will ask. But I think
they will not, because there is the devil in the house to-day, and the
Signorina looks as though she would eat us all, and that is a bad sign."
"What has happened?" asked Bastianello. "You can tell me, because I will
tell nobody."
"The truth is this," answered Teresina, lowering her voice. "They have
betrothed her to the Count, and she does not like it. But if you say
anything--." She laughed a little and shook her finger at him.
Bastianello threw his head back to signify that he would not repeat what
he had heard.
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