While she was bathing Bastianello and Teresina sat together behind the
bathing-house, but Ruggiero retired respectfully to a distance and
busied himself with giving his little boat a final washing, mopping out
the water with an old sponge, which he passed again and again over each
spot, as though never satisfied with the result. He would have thought
it bad manners indeed to be too near the bathing-place when Beatrice was
in swimming. But he kept an eye on Teresina, whom he could see talking
with his brother, and when she went into the cabin, he knew that
Beatrice had finished her bath, and he found little more to do in
cleaning the old tub, which indeed, to a landsman's eye, presented a
decidedly smart appearance in her new coat of white paint, with a
scarlet stripe. When he had finished, he sauntered up to the wooden
bridge that led to the bathing cabins and sat down on the upper rail,
hooking one foot behind the lower one. Bastianello, momentarily
separated from Teresina, came and stood beside him.
"A couple of fenders would save the new paint on her, if we are going
for crabs," he observed, thoughtfully.
Pages:
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262