Then he ran swiftly downstairs, and
Xantippe, as she lay down wearily beside her boy, heard a woman laugh.
V--XANTIPPE LOOKS OUT OF THE WINDOW
The Penny-farthing Shop was full of customers, and Madam Marx, the
fat woman who followed Gregorio to the bar, was for a long time busy
attending to her clients. Some English war-ships had entered the harbour
at sunset, and many of the sailors had lost no time in seeking out their
favourite haunt. Most of them knew Madam Marx well, as a good-natured
woman who gave them plenty to drink for their money, and secreted
them from the eyes of the police when the liquor overpowered them.
Consequently there was much laughter and shaking of hands, and many a
rough jest, which Madam Marx responded to in broken English. Gregorio
watched the sailors gloomily. He hated the English, for even their
sailors seemed to have plenty of money, and he recalled the rich
Englishman he had seen at the Cafe Paradiso, drinking champagne and
buying flowers for the Hungarian woman who played the fiddle. The scene
he had just left contrasted disagreeably with the fun and jollity that
surrounded him.
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