"Well, well, Tullio?"
"I did not know."
"You frighten me. So the doctor----"
"Yes, the doctor----"
"Come, Tullio, sit down."
She made me sit down on the divan. She looked at me with fear, waiting
for me to speak. For several moments, although she was before my eyes,
I ceased to see her. Then, suddenly, a brutal light burst in on my
mind, and the drama was all clear to me.
Where did I find the strength to resist? What preserved my reason?
Without doubt I drew from the very excess of my pain and horror the
heroic sentiment that saved me.