replied Ruffo. "I told her about the kind ladies who gave me
cigarettes, and that the Signorina had never seen her father. When she
heard that the Signorina was born after her father was dead, and that
her father had died in Sicily, she said--my poor mamma!--'If ever I
see the Signorina's mother, I shall kiss her hand. She was a widow
before she was a mother; may the Madonna comfort her.' My mamma spoke
just like that, Signorina. And then she cried for a long time. But
when Patrigno came in she stopped crying at once."

"Did she? Why was that?"

"I don't know, Signorina."

Vere was silent for a moment. Then she said:

"Is your Patrigno kind to you, Ruffo?"

The boy looked at her, then swiftly looked away.

"Kind enough, Signorina," he answered.

Then they both kept silence. They were standing side by side thus,
looking down rather vaguely at the Saint's pool, when another boat
floated gently into it, going over to the far side, where already lay
the two boats at the feet of San Francesco. Vere saw it with
indifference. She was accustomed to the advent of the fishermen at
this hour. Ruffo stared at it for a moment with a critical inquiring
gaze. The boat drew up near the land and stopped. There was a faint
murmur of voices, then silence again.