Page 42 - nostromo-a-tale-of-the-seaboard

ters of her hair, and the eyelashes, long and coal black, made
her complexion appear still more pale.
‘Mother is going to offer up a lot of candles in the church.
She always does when Nostromo has been away fighting. I
shall have some to carry up to the Chapel of the Madonna
in the Cathedral.’
She said all this quickly, with great assurance, in an ani-
mated, penetrating voice. Then, giving her sister’s shoulder
a slight shake, she added—
‘And she will be made to carry one, too!’
‘Why made?’ inquired Giorgio, gravely. ‘Does she not
want to?’
‘She is timid,’ said Linda, with a little burst of laughter.
‘People notice her fair hair as she goes along with us. They
call out after her, ‘Look at the Rubia! Look at the Rubiacita!’
They call out in the streets. She is timid.’
‘And you? You are not timid—eh?’ the father pronounced,
slowly.
She tossed back all her dark hair.
‘Nobody calls out after me.’
Old Giorgio contemplated his children thoughtfully.
There was two years difference between them. They had
been born to him late, years after the boy had died. Had he
lived he would have been nearly as old as Gian’ Battista—he
whom the English called Nostromo; but as to his daughters,
the severity of his temper, his advancing age, his absorption
in his memories, had prevented his taking much notice of
them. He loved his children, but girls belong more to the
mother, and much of his affection had been expended in

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