I ascribed this unconcern to
Italian manners, or to some domestic secret; yet there was in the
man's countenance one feature which always filled me with involuntary
distrust. His under lip, which was thin and very restless, turned down
at the corners instead of turning up, and this, as I thought, betrayed
a streak of cruelty in a character which seemed so phlegmatic and
indolent.
"As you may suppose the conversation was not very sparkling when I
went in. My weary comrades ate in silence; of course, they asked me
some questions, and we related our misadventures, mingled with
reflections on the campaign, the generals, their mistakes, the
Russians, and the cold. A minute after my arrival the colonel, having
finished his meagre meal, wiped his moustache, bid us good-night, shot
a black look at the Italian woman, saying, 'Rosina?' and then, without
waiting for a reply, went into the little barn full of hay, to bed.
The meaning of the Colonel's utterance was self-evident. The young
wife replied by an indescribable gesture, expressing all the annoyance
she could not feel at seeing her thralldom thus flaunted without human
decency, and the offence to her dignity as a woman, and to her
husband.
Pages:
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85