Pina

“ At ten o’clock, as usual, Pina came in to ask her mistress if there were any more orders and to bid her good night.
“No, Pina, I want nothing more this evening. You may go,” said Drusilla.
“Won’t you let me close the shutters, ma’am, for fear that gashly face will look in again?”
“No, Pina, they must be left open to guide your master home. The night is very dark, and here are no gas-lighted streets, you know,” smiled the little lady, determined not to yield to her fears. ”

“ Your Excellency's niece in conversation with a fiddler, a public singer, a creature little better than a mountebank! My lady Ortensia would as soon talk with a footman! Shame, my lord! The suspicion is unworthy! I would scarcely answer to the young man himself, if he spoke to me, though I am only a poor servant! A fiddler, indeed! A lute-strummer, a catgut-pincher, and a Neapolitan into the bargain!'
Thus did Pina express herself, and while her rather hard grey eyes seemed to flash with anger, her mouth, that had once been handsome, curved in lines of scorn that were almost aristocratic. ”

“ Pina poured some Florida water upon a handkerchief and offered her, saying caressingly:
“Oh, mist’ess, dear, don’t take on so. It’s the Lord’s will, you know.”
“It is NOT, Pina! The sin of man is NOT the will of God!” passionately broke forth the long-suffering soul.
“Oh, mist’ess, dear, ’scuse me. I didn’t know ’twas sin. I thought ’twas only sickness, or something.”
“I—hush!—I spoke hastily—I spoke without thinking. There, Pina, that will do. Thank you, child. Go, leave me now; I am better by myself; do go. Leo, take her away,” with difficulty gasped Drusilla. ”

“ He said that Count Trombin and Count Gambardella are Bravi, the most famous in Italy!'
'It is not possible,' replied Pina, shaking her head. 'I do not believe it!'
'Don Alberto told me the truth about you, it seems,' Ortensia said rather coldly. 'Why should he have invented a story about the other two who signed the marriage register as witnesses? And besides, if he meant to carry me off by force, would he not very likely employ just such men to do the deed for him?'
Pina did not try to answer this argument, but her face showed her incredulity. ”

“ In the afternoon Drusilla was so much prostrated that Pina assisted her to bed, and darkened the room, that she might sleep, if possible.
Late in the evening Leo returned from Alexandria, bringing with him a middle-aged, motherly-looking colored woman, who called herself “Aunt Hector, honey,” but whom Pina rushed to embrace as “mammy.”
As soon as the overjoyed daughter had relieved her mammy of bonnet, shawl and umbrella, and had sent them by Leo with the “big box, little box, ban-box and bundle,” up to the servants’ bedrooms over the kitchen, she set about getting tea for the traveller. ”

“ That is the reason why I asked your opinion. This young gentleman may be like others you have known, but besides that he is very powerful in Rome, and can do what he likes with impunity. He is so much in love with our mistress that he no longer understands, as we say in the South. He has lost his senses.'
'But he has his wits left,' observed Pina sharply.
'And he owes a grudge for that scratch in the arm,' added Cucurullo thoughtfully.
'He does not know who gave it to him.'
'Therefore he means the Lady Ortensia to pay him for it.'
'Yes,' Pina answered. 'That is just like a man. ”

“ Ortensia uncovered her eyes and looked up, surprised at the change of tone.
'Will you wait till you are the Senator's wife?' Pina asked, her grey eyes hardening suddenly. 'Will you hope that by that time the broken glass on the wall will have softened in the rain till it will not cut his hands? Or that you will be more free when you are married? You will not be. That is not the way in Venice. I am a serving-woman, and, besides, I am neither young nor pretty—I was once!—so I may go and come on your business and walk alone from the Piazza to Santa Maria dell' Orto. ”

“ The boy sat down at the table and took his tea.
“And now, mammy,” said Pina, “as it’s late and you’re tired, I’ll show you where you are to sleep. I shall have to stop in the room with the mist’ess.”
“And mind you, don’t give her any more physic, ’out calling me fust,” said mammy, as she followed her daughter up to the little room above the kitchen.
Pina dismissed Leo to the stable loft, fastened up the house, raked out the kitchen fire, and then returned to her mistress’s chamber. ”

“ But Pignaver always returned the same answer, politely expressing his thanks for the honour done his niece, but saying that he had 'other views for her.'
Pina, however, hated him for reasons of her own, which he had either forgotten, or which he disregarded because, in his opinion, she was under the greatest obligation to the house. Pina's hatred of her master was more sincere, if possible, than her affection for Ortensia, and her contempt for his intelligence was almost as profound [21] as his own belief in its superiority over that of other men. ”

“ That was what had happened on the first day when Pina had left him alone with Ortensia and he had sung to her; that had all been normal and natural, and only not dull because the fountain of youth was full and overflowing; that might have happened to any man between twenty and thirty. ”

“ The Sicilian character has grave defects: it is revengeful, over-proud, violent, and sometimes cruel; but it is generally truthful, and it is, above all, direct.
'You talk lightly of leaving your mistress,' said the musician. 'It is not for love of her that you are ready to help us.'
Pina faced him fearlessly.
'You are right,' she answered. 'And yet she is the one living being I love at all. Affection is not the only motive one may have, sir.'
'Nor love of money either,' Stradella said thoughtfully. 'The third is hate. Last of all comes charity!'
[62] 'I am not a saint, sir,' said Pina. ”

“ By sunrise Pina opened her own eyes, and seeing her mistress lying very much as she had left her when she fell asleep, the girl arose and replenished the fire and went down into the kitchen.
Here she found “mammy” making herself at home and in full blast before the range getting the breakfast. ”

“ In a few words Stradella repeated to Pina what Trombin had told him, and in his own anxiety he did not see that she was now very pale, and that her hand shook so violently that she had to set down the lamp she held for fear of dropping it.
[362] 'She will be at home in a few minutes,' Stradella said in conclusion, trying to reassure himself. 'I will go downstairs again and wait for her. Give me my cloak, Pina, for I am very hot, and it will be cool under the archway.'
Trembling in every limb, Pina got his wide black cloak and laid it upon his shoulders. ”

“ In the Philippines it is generally called piña, the Spanish word for pine-cone, which has the same origin as our name pine-apple. Piña is also the name of a cloth of great strength and durability, made by the natives of the Philippines, from the fibres of its leaves. The Malays, on the contrary, seldom or never make any such use of it, though it grows so abundantly in many places that any quantity of its leaves could be obtained for the simple trouble of gathering them. ”

“ You are young and strong, and I am tough; we shall not die of the fatigue; and by the next morning we shall all three be out of Venetian territory. What is easier?'
Ortensia listened to this bold plan in silence, too much surprised to ask why Pina was so ready to propose it, and a little frightened too, for she was a mere girl, and all the world beyond Venice was a mysterious immensity of Cimmerian gloom in the midst of which little pools of brilliant light marked the great and wonderful places she had heard described, such as Rome, Florence, and Milan, and royal Paris, and imperial Vienna. ”

“ Pina slept with her mistress, while Stradella and his man rolled themselves in their cloaks and lay down outside the door, with valises for pillows; for they expected to be pursued, and though they had made good time, they knew that mounted men, with frequent relays of horses, might overtake them before morning. ”

“ There is an extra butler to be obtained when the function is a sufficiently grand one to warrant the expense, but as he wears carpet slippers and Pina flirts with him from soup to fruit, we find ourselves no better served on the whole, and prefer Cecco, since he transforms an ordinary meal into a beguiling comedy.
“What does it matter, after all?” asks Salemina. “It is not life we are living, for the moment, but an act of light opera, with the scenes all beautifully painted, the music charming and melodious, the costumes gay and picturesque. ”

“ Even if the great man could have set aside all these considerations for a moment, so as to look upon Stradella as a possible rival, he would still have believed that the presence of Pina during the lessons was a trustworthy safeguard against any 'accident to Ortensia's affections,' as he would have expressed the danger. ”

“ To the Senator's insufficient imagination two things were out of the question; he was convinced that no one could get up into the loggia from below, and he was persuaded that Pina, unswerving in her devotion to his interests and honour, would guard Ortensia as jealously as the dragon guarded the Golden Fleece. Moreover, as to getting in by the window, a man would first have to get access to the walled garden below, which Pignaver regarded as another impossibility, for the wall was high, he himself kept the key of the postern that opened on the canal, and the gardener entered through the house. ”

“ A good marriage is evidently the obvious solution, but what shall a young man do when love pulls one way and purse-strings another, not to speak of a very able and intriguing Marchesa di Pina who knows exactly what she wants and holds strong cards played with entire unscrupulousness. The Marchesa is a most original and effectively drawn character, and both Anita and Raffaella are such charming girls that it is hard to say which is the real heroine. We have purposely avoided unravelling the plot, which is extremely ingenious and well constructed and holds the reader’s attention to the end. ”

“ It was not that Stradella doubted how it would be received, if he spoke it when Pina was out of the room, nor was Ortensia not eager for it long before it came. Yet she could not be the first, and he would not, for reasons she understood so little that at last she began to resent his silence as if it were a slight. [28] Few Italian girls of her age have ever known that sensation, which is familiar enough to many women of the world. ”

“ Ortensia understood that she had told the truth, and that the mere thought of physical pain almost drove her mad.
'I will take you with me to Naples,' Ortensia said. [331] 'You will be safe there. I am sorry for you; but how can I trust a woman who is so easily frightened?'
'Easily!' groaned Pina. 'You do not know what it is!'
But she took her mistress's hand and kissed it gratefully, with many tearful blessings.
'I must confess something else,' she said presently, 'though it is Cucurullo's business as well as mine. ”

“ E. The surrounding country is hilly but fertile and well cultivated, producing rice, sugar, tobacco, vegetables (for the Iloilo market) , hemp and Indian corn. The women weave and sell beautiful fabrics of pina, silk, cotton and abaca. ”

“ There was a dimness on its bright surface.
“You are right. Life is not yet quite extinct. She still breathes slightly.”
273“Oh, sir, I’m so glad! I feel as glad as if—”
“Hurry and make a fire in her bed-chamber, while I carry her up stairs,” said Mr. Lyon, again interrupting the stream of the girl’s talk.
Pina flew down stairs to get kindling wood, and to startle her brother with the news that their mistress had been found in a fainting fit so deep that she seemed dead, or dying, at the last gasp, and it was doubtful whether she would ever come out of it. ”

“ He went to the window and examined the fastenings carefully, opened it wide, went out into the loggia and looked down into the garden. Everything was in order there, not one flower-pot had been upset by the squall, not a branch of the cypress-tree was broken or even bent.
Then he came in again and tapped sharply at the door of the dressing-room where Pina slept. She appeared instantly, already dressed; but she laid one [51] finger on her lips, to keep him silent, and came out into the room before she spoke. ”

“ But as it is, I must be off at once. So you see the evil of binding a man to any fixed time.”
“Yes, Alick. I don’t wish to bind you to anything, dear. I will only trust that you will come back to me as soon as you can,” she meekly replied.
“As soon as it shall be proper to do so, I will come back,” he answered evasively.
Pina came in and set the table, and brought in the tea service and arranged it. ”

“ Nina had not been content until she had got two or three of these jars from Viterbo, of coarse highly-glazed pottery, with a fine free design of yellow on the brown. She now pointed out her treasure to Peppina with joyous pride.
“And our marchesa has two in the sala with all her other beautiful things,”—Nina exalted her family to the skies—“she took them away from me and left me nothing for the wine. But that, see you, was because she could find nothing like them in Rome. Rome is a poor place, for all they talk so much, and make one pay, pay, pay. ”

“ All the blood will rush into his poor little head. The dog, the dog; you foolish fellow; the d-o-g, dog! I can't make him understand. Please tell him, Mr. Pinac."
"Hund—hund!" shouted Fico to Poons.
"Le chien—Le chien! Idiot, stupid!" said Pinac.
Poons was so startled by hearing them all shout at him at once that he dropped the dog into Von Barwig's coal scuttle, whence it finally issued covered with coal dust and ran yelping into Miss Husted's arms. That lady petted the frightened animal while Pinac pushed the unfortunate Poons out of the room. ”