"
"Thank you kindly, sir; and, truth to say, it is not so much that I
wanted to ask you to say or to do anything, as only just not to say
what a many people in this city are wicked enough to say and to
think," said old Orsola, much re-assured, and persuaded that she was
approaching the business in band in the most cautious and clever
manner imaginable.
"I hope, Signora, that I shall not say anything which it is wicked
to say; but what is it that people are wicked enough to say?"
rejoined the lawyer, who knew now perfectly well what the wicked
saying was.
"Why they say, Signor Dottore--some of them--some of them are wicked
enough to say that that dear blessed child has--it is enough to
blister one's tongue to say it--has done that dreadful thing; Santa
Maria abbia misericordia--that murder in the forest. O Dio mio!
Why--"
"Is she any relative of yours, Signora, the Signorina Paolina
Foscarelli?" asked the lawyer, quietly.
"No relative by blood, Signor; but she is the same to me as a
daughter. I took her when she was left an orphan--"
"And she has lived with you ever since?"
"Ever since she has lived with me as if she was my own, Signor; and
if anybody in the world ever knew another, I know her; and, bless
your heart, she isn't capable of lifting her hand against a fly, let
alone a Christian.
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