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Francis himself had never the like at Assisi. Now it so befell that among the ladies that came to confess to this holy friar was one Monna Lisetta of Ca' Quirino, the young, silly, empty-headed wife of a great merchant, who was gone with the galleys to Flanders.
I forgot to give it back to Lisetta. It is pretty, isn't it?" Norman took the long needle from her hand and looked at it. "It is not as pretty as the flowered stiletto. Why didn't you get one of those?" "Why, do you not know that those are not worn by free maidens? They are one of the added glories of a matron. I like my round, smooth ball a great deal better. It means liberty."
"The Signorina is the veriest Italian of us all," cried Lisetta. "She honors our Italy," called Mae's last partner. "Her feet are those of a chamois," said one from the north. "Nay, she flies," replied another. They all spoke in their earnest manner, and the praises, that fall in fulsome flattery in English, were delicate and stimulating as they slid in soft Italian from their full, red lips.
Mae had already heard one or two amusing incidents connected with this old mother. "I am sure she has a cousin in America," she asserted to-day, before Lisetta began, "for I know her well. She knits all the time, and is as bony as a ledge of rocks, and her eyes are as sharp as her knitting-needles, and her words are the sharpest of all. Her name is Miss Mary Ann Rogers.
She tells me lovely stories about her home and the peasants and their life, while I sit on the floor with Giovanni, friend number three and eldest son of the padrona, and even Roberto, my enemy, the crying baby of three years, hushes his naughty mouth to listen to Lisetta, for that is the cousin's name.
However, one day it so befell that while Monna Lisetta was with one of her gossips canvassing beauties, she, being minded to exalt her own charms above all others, and having, as we know, none too much wit in her pumpion-pate, observed: "Did you but know by whom my charms are prized, then, for sure, you would have nought to say of the rest."
"And the people all swore that there were two snakes coiled up in La Madre's eyes then, and they hissed, and struck out with their fiery tongues, and the crowd fell on their knees, and the neighbors all set up a great shout of 'La Madre Ilkana, so that they quite drowned the voice of the man with the big feather." "Is that all?" asked Mae, as Lisetta paused. "What did the soldiers do?"
"She must be terrible," cried Mae, with a sudden shrinking. "She IS terrible," replied Lisetta, "but then she is very clever. You will see if she is not clever when you hear the story I shall now tell you," and Lisetta laughed, and showed her own one double chin, with its two little round dimples. Then she smoothed down her peasant apron, bade Giovanni leave off pinching Roberto, and commenced.
There were hundreds of contadine in the great crowd surging by, but no Lisetta. The little peasant wrung her hands quite free from the man's grasp. "I must go home," she said. "I don't want any more Carnival." "No, no," said the officer, quietly, reassuringly. "Get cool. Tell me how Lisetta looks and is dressed, and if we can not find her here, I will take you up to your friend's balcony."
Do you always have such good times as this?" "At home, yes," replied Lisetta, folding her hands and smiling. "We have many a play-day on the bay of Naples." Then she roused herself: "Good night, Signorina," she said, "keep your ears open." Mae had barely reached her room when she appreciated Lisetta's last words. She heard music in the street below.
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