452
PARTISAN REVIEW
went over to a gramophone placed on a stool in one corner of the
room.
"Let's have some music," she said.
As she leaned over to wind the gramophone she looked up
through her loose hair at Giacomo with a happy expression on
her face. Her breasts hardly moved at all, and Giacomo was sur–
prised because the effort of turning the handle made the rest of
her body shake all over. As a popular tune started up she came
over to him and held out her arms.
"Let's dance," she said.
They wheeled around, but when the mUSIC grew louder Rina
called out from a chair at the dressing-table :
"Turn that thing off!"
Instead of obeying her Giacomo led his partner out into the
corridor. His timidity was gone; now that he was launched upon
the adventure there was nothing to do but carry it to a logical con–
clusion. Soon both Rina and Lori would be fully undressed and
all three of them would lie down on the wide double bed.
The idea was so very agreeable that it actually checked his
impatience to perform. He wished somehow to handle Lori alone
because he was half ashamed to do so before her sister. But just as
he was gradually trying to change a dance step into a closer embrace
the music came to a sudden stop.
"It's that fool of a Rina," the girl said, freeing herself abruptly
from his arms and rushing into the bedroom, where Giacomo dis–
contentedly followed her.
"Why did you turn off the gramophone? We were dancing," she
said to her sister, who was just lowering its cover.
"I told you before I didn't want any noise," Rina answered.
"Didn't you make enough racket in the tram? You put me to
shame before Mr. Picchio and I don't know whether I'll ever be
able to look him in the face again."
They stood facing each other, one naked, the other in her slip.
",,yhat do I care about Mr. Picchio?" her sister shouted. "Per–
haps he's caught on to the fact that you go out after men. But
what of it?"
"I care, though. And then it's not true. You're the one that
goes man-hunting in Milan."
