'You were not expected for two days, I think.'
'You know my movements very well. I am pleased to find you take such
interest in me.'
'Oh, it is not I alone. The whole town takes interest in you. You have
been a most pleasant topic of conversation.'
'Really!' I was getting a little angry. 'And what has the town to say of
me?'
'Oh, I do not want to trouble your peace of mind.'
'Will you have the goodness to tell me what you mean?'
She shrugged her shoulders and smiled enigmatically.
'Well?' I said.
'If you insist, I will tell you. They say that you are a complaisant
husband.'
'That is a lie!'
'You are not polite,' she answered calmly.
'How dare you say such things, you impudent woman!'
'My good sir, it is true, perfectly true. Ask Matteo.'
Suddenly I remembered Matteo's question, and his look of relief. A
sudden fear ran through me. I took hold of Claudia's wrists and said,--
'What do you mean? What do you mean?'
'Leave go; you hurt me!'
'Answer, I tell you. I know you are dying to tell me. Is this why you
lay in wait for me, and brought me here? Tell me.'
A sudden transformation took place in Claudia; rage and hate broke out
and contorted her face, so that one would not have recognised it.
'Do you suppose you can escape the ordinary fate of husbands?' She broke
into a savage laugh.
'It is a lie. You slander Giulia because you are yourself impure.'
'You were willing enough to take advantage of that impurity. Do you
suppose Giulia's character has altered because you have married her? She
made her first husband a cuckold, and do you suppose that she has
suddenly turned virtuous? You fool!'
'It is a lie. I will not believe a word of it.'
'The whole town has been ringing with her love for Giorgio dall' Aste.'