"May I pass, sir, please? I live a little beyond the wall, but I am
not a spy," she said with mock humility.

Roderigo blushed. A soldier does not like to be made fun of,
particularly when some one else is present.

"Pass," he said gruffly.

Lucia laughed provokingly.

"Good night, Maria," she said as she kissed her cousin. "Sweet dreams.
I may not be in very early in the morning, there is so much to do, you
know, but I will bring as much milk as possible," she finished. Then
without even a glance at Roderigo she walked through the gate and down
the wall.

When she had walked for a little distance she looked back. Maria and
the soldier were in earnest conversation. Maria in her timid way was
apologizing for her cousin's rudeness, and Roderigo was beginning to
have doubts of the superiority of Southern beauty over the Northern,
particularly when a gentle spirit was added to the charm of the latter.
Lucia did not know she was the subject of their talk. She shrugged her
shoulders and turned her thoughts to a more important question that was
puzzling her. It was, how to slip out of the house the next morning
without disturbing the already suspicious Beppi.