"You were to call me Signorina. Do you remember?"
"Yes, Signorina. I beg pardon."
Beatrice saw that Teresina had not yet left the cabin with her bag, and
that Bastianello was loitering before the door, pretending or really
trying to help her.
"Do you know what Teresina has been telling me, Ruggiero?" asked
Beatrice, stopping entirely and turning towards him as they stood in the
narrow way between Ruggiero's boat and the one lying next to her.
"Of Bastianello, Signorina?"
"Yes. That she wants to marry him. She told me while I was dressing. You
know?"
"Yes, Signorina, and I laughed when he told me the story the other day,
over there on the pier."
"I heard you laughing, Ruggiero," answered Beatrice, remembering the
unpleasant impression she had received when she had looked down from the
terrace. His huge mirth had come up as a sort of shock to her in the
midst of her own trouble. "Why did you laugh?" she asked.
"Must I tell you, Signorina?"
"Yes."
"It was this. Bastianello had a thought. He imagined to himself that I
loved Teresina--I!--"
Ruggiero broke off in the sentence and looked away.
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