After the Divorce Grazia Deledda (white hot kiss .TXT) đ
- Author: Grazia Deledda
Book online «After the Divorce Grazia Deledda (white hot kiss .TXT) đ». Author Grazia Deledda
Grazia shrugged her shoulders, or rather her wings, and neither spoke nor looked up. She frequently found her uncleâ âthat hero of her first, young dreamâ âvery trying, and worse than tryingâ âfoolish! It was the common talk of the town that the uncle and niece were going to marry, and he, when interrogated on the subject, would answer neither yes nor no.
The conversation continued for some time on impersonal topics. Every now and then Aunt Porredda would get up and pass in and out of the room, and occasionally the talk would die away, and long pauses ensue that were almost embarrassing. Like that other time everyone instinctively avoided the subject uppermost in the minds of the guests; who, on the whole, were just as well pleased to have it so. But, just as before, it was Aunt Bachissia, this time without intending to, who introduced the unwelcome topic. She asked if the report that the âDoctorâ was to marry his niece were true or no.
The Porrus looked at one another, and Grazia, bending her head still lower over her plate, laughed softly to herself.
Paolo glanced at the girl, and, with an irony that seemed a little forced, replied:
âEh, no! She is going to marry the Very Right Honourable Sub-Prefect!â
Grazia raised her head with a sudden movement and opened her lips, then as quickly lowered it, the blood meanwhile rushing up to her forehead.
âOh! heâs old,â said Minnia. âI know him; heâs always walking about the station. Ugh! he has a long, red beard, and a high hat.â
âA high hat too?â
âYes, a high hatâ âa widower.â
âThe high hat is a widower?â
âYou shut up!â said the child sharply, turning on her sister.
âNo, Iâm not going to shut up. Heâs a Freemason; he wonât have his children baptised, or be married in church. Thatâs the way of it; heâll not marry in church.â
âThe young lady is well informed,â said Uncle Efes Maria, polished as usual.
Thereupon Aunt Porredda, who had almost shrieked aloud at the word âFreemason,â waved both arms in the air, and burst out:
âYes, a Freemason! One of those people who pray to the devil. Upon my word, I believe my granddaughter there would just as leave have him! We are all on the road to perdition here, and why not? Thereâs Grazia, forever reading bad books, and those infernal papers, till now she doesnât want to go to confession any more! Ah, those prohibited books! I lie awake all night thinking of them. But now, this is what I want to say: Grazia reads bad books; Paoloâ âyou see him, that one over there, Doctor Pededduâ âwell, he studied on the Continent where they donât believe in God any more; now thatâs all right, at least, it isnât, itâs all wrong, but you can understand a little why those two poor creatures have stopped believing in God. But the rest of us, who donât know anything about books and who have never in our lives ridden on a railroadâ âthat devilâs horseâ âwhy should we cease to believe in God, in our kind Saviour, who died for us on the cross? Why? why? tell me why. You there, Giovanna Era, tell me why you should be willing to marry a man by civil ceremony when you already have a husband living?â
The final clause of Aunt Porreddaâs oration fell with startling effect upon her audience. Grazia, who, with a smile upon her lips, had been busily engaged in rolling pieces of bread into little pellets, raised her head quickly, and the smile died away; Paolo, who, likewise smiling, had been fitting the blade of a knife in and out of the prongs of his fork, straightened himself with a brusque movement; and Uncle Efes Maria turned his dull, round face towards Giovanna, and fixed her with an impassive stare.
Giovanna herself, the object of this wholly unlooked-for attack, though she flushed crimson, replied with cynical indifference:
âI havenât any husband, my dear Aunt Porredda. Ask your son over there.â
âMy son!â exclaimed the other angrily. âI have no son. Heâs a child of the devil!â
It almost seemed as though Giovanna had succeeded in throwing the responsibility of her act upon Paolo, because he had won her case for her!
Every one laughed at Aunt Porreddaâs outbreak, even Minnia, and the servant who entered the room at that moment, carrying the cheese. Notwithstanding her wrath, Aunt Porredda took the dish and handed it politely to her guests.
âUpon my soul,â said Aunt Bachissia, carefully cutting herself a slice, and speaking in a tone of gentle melancholy, âyou are as good as gold, there is no doubt about that, butâ âyou live at your ease, you have a house like a church, and a husband like a strong tower (Uncle Efes Maria coughed), and you have a circle of stars about youâ âmotioning towards themâ âso it is easy enough to talk like that. Ah! if you knew once what it meant to be in want, and to look forward to having to beg your bread in your old age! Do you understand? In your old age!â
âBravo!â cried Paolo. âBut I would like to have a clean knife.â
âWhat difference does that make, Bachissia Era?â answered Aunt Porredda. âYou are afraid to trust in Divine Providence, and that means that you have lost your faith in God! How do you know whether you will be poor or rich when you are old? Is not Costantino Ledda coming back some day?â
âYes, to be a beggar too,â said Aunt Bachissia coldly.
âAnd God alone knows whether he ever will come back,â observed the young lawyer brutally, taking the knife which the servant held out to him, blade foremost.
They had all heard that Costantino was ill, and there was a report that his lungs were affected.
In order to appear agitatedâ âand possibly she really was so to some extentâ âGiovanna now hid her face in her hands and said brokenly:
âBesidesâ âif it is only to be a civil ceremonyâ âit isâ âit
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