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Of course it was horribly tactless of me,
but it's odd he should be so sensitive. I wonder
if he has ever suffered from any cruel jokes of that
kind."
"Much more likely to have perpetrated them, I
should think. There's a sort of internal brutality
about that man, under all his fine manners, that
is perfectly sickening to me."
"Now, Cesare, that's downright unfair. I
don't like him any more than you do, but what is
the use of making him out worse than he is? His
manner is a little affected and irritating--I expect
he has been too much lionized--and the everlasting
smart speeches are dreadfully tiring; but I
don't believe he means any harm."
"I don't know what he means, but there's something
not clean about a man who sneers at everything. It
fairly disgusted me the other day at
Fabrizi's debate to hear the way he cried down
the reforms in Rome, just as if he wanted to find
a foul motive for everything."
Gemma sighed. "I am afraid I agreed better
with him than with you on that point," she said.


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