little voices calling him “Babbo” were very sweet in his ears for the short while that he heard them. When he thought of leaving Florence, he never thought of leaving Tessa and the little ones behind. He was very fond of these round-cheeked, wide-eyed human things that clung about him and knew no evil of him. And wherever affection can spring, it is like the green leaf and the blossom—pure, and breathing purity, whatever soil it may grow in. Poor Romola, with all her self-sacrificing effort, was really helping to harden Tito’s nature by chilling it with a positive dislike which had beforehand seemed impossible in him; but Tessa kept open the fountains of kindness.
“Ninna is very good without me now,” began Tessa, feeling her request rising very high in her throat, and letting Ninna seat herself on the floor. “I can leave her with Monna Lisa any time, and if she is in the cradle and cries, Lillo is as sensible as can be—he goes and thumps Monna Lisa.”
Lillo, whose great dark eyes looked all the darker because his curls were of a light-brown like his mother’s, jumped off Babbo’s knee, and went forthwith to attest his intelligence by thumping Monna Lisa, who was shaking her head slowly over her spinning at the other end of the room. “A wonderful boy!” said Tito, laughing. “Isn’t he?” said Tessa, eagerly, getting a little closer to him; “and I might go and see the Carnival tomorrow, just for an hour or two, mightn’t I?”
“Oh, you wicked pigeon!” said Tito, pinching her cheek; “those are your longings, are they? What have you to do with carnivals now you are an old woman with two children?”
“But old women like to see things,” said Tessa, her lower lip hanging a little. “Monna Lisa said she should like to go, only she’s so deaf she can’t hear what is behind her, and she thinks we couldn’t take care of both the children.”
“No, indeed, Tessa,” said Tito, looking rather grave, “you must not think of taking the children into the crowded streets, else I shall be angry.”