The woman was yet standing beside me, and, as I thought she was waiting for orders, I said, without turning--
"Much obliged, my dear; you need not wait. I shall not want anything this evening."
I started, and the razor in my hand gave a great jerk, happily not into my face: the woman I had taken for a chambermaid was Cenni.
She laughed, and said, with a mock obeisance, "Yes, sir." But, looking at me in the mirror, she laughed again, and said--"Only go on. I am waiting for the Byron face to appear again, when these stalks are swept off. We can talk a little meanwhile."
"Indeed? But, you see, there is one more forbidden subject between us. There are four now: the step-ladder, the Sultan of Morocco, the sea-dove, and now Father Paphuntius."
"It's astonishing how sharp you are; almost as keen as your razor. Only take care, you may cut your own skin!"
"Not likely. My hand is skilled in using knives. Am I mistaken in supposing that you have come to ask for secrecy on my part?"
"Not altogether. That was a part of my motive in coming."
"You magnanimously promised me a kiss for keeping the other secrets. What will be my fee for this?"
"A bite, and yet a kiss. It will hurt you, and yet it is meant as a caress--like those biting kisses which some over-fond mothers bestow on their little ones, and make them cry."
"Thank you, I am ready to accept it, and shall do my best not to cry."
"Don't be too sure of that. Take care of the blade in your hand! I half think I ought to postpone my revelations, because as long as this shaving process serves you as a pretext for making grimaces, I cannot clearly detect the real impression my words are making on you. Would you mind laying down that razor for a while, and leave off making faces and holding the tip of your own nose?"
"Impossible. I have heard of Janus having two different faces--one for peace, smooth and smiling sweetly; the other for war, frowning and threatening, and clothed with a grizzly beard. But I myself always show an honest impartiality to friend or foe."
"Oh, I daresay that you condemn and despise me, for, foolish and conceited as you are, you scarcely know how to distinguish between friend and foe. You think the misfortune that little pleasantry would have brought upon you highly important, whereas, if carried out as intended, it would have saved you from real harm and real degradation."