You have a ready wit."
"I thought that if my conversation were not as instructive as you had
hoped, I could at least try to make it amusing--light, gay, witty! I
trust you will not take it ill."
"Not I!" Giovanni tried to laugh. "But what a wonderful thing is this
human imagination of ours! Now, as I talked of the secrets, I forgot
that they were my father's, they seemed almost within my grasp, I was
ready to count out the gold, to count out six thousand gold lires. Think
of that!"
"They are worth it," said Zorzi quietly.
"You should know best," answered the other. "There is no such glass as
my father's for lightness and strength. If he had a dozen workmen like
you, my brother and I should be ruined in trying to compete with him. I
watched you very closely the other day, and I watched the others, too.
By the bye, my friend, was that really an accident, or does the man owe
you some grudge? I never saw such a thing happen before!"
"It was an accident, of course," replied Zorzi without hesitation.
"If you knew that the man had injured you intentionally, you should have
justice at once," said Giovanni. "As it is, I have no doubt that my
father will turn him out without mercy."
"I hope not." Zorzi would say nothing more.
Giovanni rose to go away.
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