"Why not? Cinderella put the slipper on all right!"
"At that time there were fairies still."
"In the present time there are lovers still."
She sang:
"Non, non, nenni, mon petit ami!"
"Why so, since we are friends?"
"Just for that reason."
"For that?"
"Yes, because one cannot accept things from a friend."
"Then perhaps—from an enemy?"
"Rather from a stranger; my shopman, for instance, if he wanted to advance me a payment, the robber!"
"But, Luce, I certainly have the right to order from you a painting, if I wish?"
She stopped, to burst out laughing.
"You, a painting by me? My poor friend, what could you do with it? You have gained a good deal of merit already, just for having looked at them. I know well enough that they are croûtes. They would stick in your throat."
"Not at all! Some of them are very
