 two slices of
cake!

“I knew this was to go on till a partito was arranged for me, for my
parents did not like it to be said they had an unmarried daughter at
home upon their hands; besides, many men prefer a bride fresh from the
seclusion of the convent, and in those days especially, this was the
strict etiquette. I had seen my eldest sister discontented and fretting
till she was nearly twenty, before the welcome sposo could be found,
and I had no inclination to be incarcerated so long, though hope, and
certain furtive glances at my mirror, kept encouraging me to look for a
speedier deliverance.

“At last, one Easter Sunday—how well I remember it!—I was summoned to
the parlatojo, and there, on the outer side of the grating, stood a
group of my relations: my father and mother, my sister and her husband,
and one or two of my aunts. I was so flurried at the sight of so many
people, and so taken up with looking at the gay new Easter dresses of
my visitors—my sister, I recollect, had an immense sort of high-crowned
hat, with prodigious feathers, as was the fashion then, which excited
my intense admiration and envy—that I had not time to bestow much
notice upon a little dried-up old man who had come in with them, and
who kept taking huge pinches of snuff and talking in a low tone with
my father. My mother, on her side, was engaged in whispering to the
Mother-Superior, and from her gestures, seemed in a very good humour;
while the rest of the party drew off my attention by cramming me with
sweetmeats they had brought for my Easter present.

“The next day but one, I was again sent for, and, with downcast eyes,
but a bounding heart, presented myself at the grating. There I found
my mother, as before, in deep conversation with the Superior, who, on
my bending to kiss her hand, according to custom, saluted me on both
cheeks with an unusual demonstration of tenderness.

“'Well, Gentilina,' said my mother, 'I suppose you begin to wish to
come out into the world a little?'

“I knew my mother so slightly, se