Nothing would rouse him up, until at last Lilia, getting
more and more angry, said, "And I've got the money."
He looked horrified.
Now was the moment to assert herself. She made the
statement again. He got up from his chair.
"And you'd better mend your manners," she continued,
"for you'd find it awkward if I stopped drawing cheques."
She was no reader of character, but she quickly became
alarmed. As she said to Perfetta afterwards, "None of his
clothes seemed to fit--too big in one place, too small in
another." His figure rather than his face altered, the
shoulders falling forward till his coat wrinkled across the
back and pulled away from his wrists. He seemed all arms.
He edged round the table to where she was sitting, and she
sprang away and held the chair between them, too frightened
to speak or to move. He looked at her with round,
expressionless eyes, and slowly stretched out his left hand.
Perfetta was heard coming up from the kitchen. It
seemed to wake him up, and he turned away and went to his
room without a word.
"What has happened?" cried Lilia, nearly fainting. "He
is ill--ill."
Perfetta looked suspicious when she heard the account.
"What did you say to him?" She crossed herself.
"Hardly anything," said Lilia and crossed herself also.
Thus did the two women pay homage to their outraged male.
It was clear to Lilia at last that Gino had married her
for money. But he had frightened her too much to leave any
place for contempt.
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