Lucia sat in a high chair near the piano, with her chin in her hand,
tremendously erect.
Georgie took off his rings and laid them on the candle-bracket, and ran
his hands nimbly over the piano.
"_Poissons d'or_," he said. "Goldfish!"
"Yes; Pesci d'oro," said Lucia, explaining it to Peppino.
Lucia's face changed as the elusive music proceeded. The far-away look
died away, and became puzzled; her chin came out of her hand, and the
hand it came out of covered her eyes.
Before Georgie had got to the end the answer to her note came, and she
sat with it in her hand, which, released from covering her eyes, tried
to beat time. On the last note she got up with a regretful sigh.
"Is it finished?" she asked. "And yet I feel inclined to say 'When is
it going to begin?' I haven't been fed; I haven't drank in anything.
Yes, I warned you I should be quite candid. And there's my verdict. I
am sorry. Me vewy sowwy! But you played it, I am sure, beautifully,
Georgino; you were a _buono avvocato_; you said all that could be
said for your client. Shall I open this note before we discuss it more
fully? Give Georgino a cigarette, Peppino! I am sure he deserves one,
after all those accidentals."
She pulled up the blind again in order to read her note and as she read
her face clouded.
"Ah! I am sorry for that," she said. "Peppino, the Princess does not go
out in the evening; they always have a seance there.
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