THE WOMAN FROM MEXICO
17
hoped that she would refuse it. Albina, at last, said slowly:
"Luciano
is
a liar ... It's I who don't want to have anything
more to do with
him
...
But that's no reason for
you
to crow
over anybody. D'you really think I didn't see what was going
on?"
So
Albina too, as well as Luciano, was convinced that he
had been trying to make advances to her. Irritated, he replied:
"Whether I think it or not, I simply came to bring you back
your gloves."
"And to ask me out to dinner," Albina prompted
him.
"Well, where shall we go?"
So
she
was
accepting his invitation. Sergio could not help
feeling pleased. "Wherever you like," he said.
"Let's go to Paolone's," she answered; "the food's good
there." She took up the hairbrush again and resumed her
energetic toilet. "Why don't you sit down?" she said. "What
are you doing, standing there stiff as a poker?"
Sergio sat down awkwardly on the sofa, encumbered by
his
heavy clothes. The adventure with Albina was now mixed
up in
his
mind with the frantic desire to rid himself of these
garments. He thought of the moment when he would undress in
that little room, which did not appear to be heated in any way,
and it seemed to
him
that undressing would give
him
even
greater pleasure than possessing Albina. But alas, it would be a
long time before that blessed moment arrived. "And so you're
pleased," said Albina without looking at
him,
"that Luciano
and I have parted."
"Really," stammered Sergio, "really, I ..."
"You couldn't believe it was true," went on Albina, "but
I
seem
to see the whole thing . . . The moment Luciano told
you that everything was over between us, you chuckled with
joy and came rushing up here ... thinking that this was the
best
possible moment. Isn't that so?"
