... Wait, wait here for a bit ...â
âIf you,â Micuccio attempted to say, as anxiety tightened his throat, âif you think I ought to go ... â
âNo, wait a bit, I say,â the kind old lady hastened to reply, all embarrassed.
âBut,â Micuccio responded, âI have no idea where to go in this town ... at this hour ... â
Aunt Marta left him, signaling to him with one of her gloved hands to wait, and entered the salon, in which a moment later Micuccio thought an abyss had opened; silence had suddenly fallen there. Then he heard, clear and distinct, these words of Teresina:
âOne moment, gentlemen.â
Again his sight grew dim with the imminence of her appearance. But Teresina did not come, and the conversation resumed in the salon. Instead, after a few minutes, which seemed an eternity to him, Aunt Marta came back, without her hat, without her mantilla, without her gloves, and less embarrassed.
âLetâs wait here for a while, would that be all right?â she said to him. âIâll stay with you ... Now theyâre having supper ... Weâll remain here. Dorina will set this little table for us, and weâll have supper together, here; weâll reminisce about the good old days, all right? ... I canât believe itâs true that Iâm here with you, son, here, here, all by ourselves ... In that room, you understand, all those gentlemen ... She, poor girl, canât avoid them ... Her career, you get my meaning? Ah, what can you do! ... Have you seen the newspapers? Big doings, son! As for me, Iâm all at sea, all the time ... I canât believe I can really be here with you, tonight.â
And the kind old lady, who had gone on talking, instinctively, to keep Micuccio from having time to think, finally smiled and rubbed her hands together, looking at him compassionately.
Dorina came to set the table hastily, because there, in the salon, the meal had already begun.
âWill she come?â Micuccio asked gloomily, with a troubled voice. âI mean, at least to see her.â
âOf course sheâll come,â the old lady immediately replied, making an effort to get out of her awkward situation. âJust as soon as she has a minute free: sheâs already told me so.â
They looked at each other and smiled at each other, as if they had finally recognized each other. Despite the embarrassment and the excitement, their souls had found the way to greet each other with that smile. âYouâre Aunt Marta,â Micuccioâs eyes said. âAnd youâre Micuccio, my dear, good son, still the same, poor boy!â said Aunt Martaâs. But suddenly the kind old lady lowered her own eyes, so that Micuccio might not read anything else in them. Again she rubbed her hands together and said:
âLetâs eat, all right?â
âIâm good and hungry!â exclaimed Micuccio, quite happy and reassured.
âLetâs cross ourselves first: here, in front of you, 1 can do it,â added the old lady in a mischievous manner, winking an eye, and she made the sign of the cross.
The manservant came, bringing their first course. Micuccio observed with close attention the way that Aunt Marta transferred her helping from the serving platter. But when his turn came, as he raised his hands, it occurred to him that they were dirty from the long trip; he blushed, he got confused, he raised his eyes to steal a glance at the servant, who, now the height of good manners, nodded slightly to him and smiled, as if inviting him to serve himself. Fortunately Aunt Marta helped him out of his predicament.
âHere, here, Micuccio, Iâll serve you.â
He could have kissed her out of gratitude! Once he received his helping, as soon as the servant had withdrawn, he too crossed himself hurriedly.
âGood boy!â Aunt Marta said to him.
And he felt carefree, contented, and started eating as he had never