She must find some other way.
She laid his head tenderly on the pillow and left him, promising to come back as soon as she could.

For safety she had brought the dish of beans with her, lest Nanna should follow her, and she took it with her, just as it was; but at the foot of the outer stairs she ran along the back of the house to the pig-sty, and emptied the mess into the trough, carefully scraping the bowl with the spoon so that it looked as if some one had eaten the contents.

Then she went back to the kitchen.
"Has he eaten ?" inquired Nanna, and Paoluccio looked up, too.
"You see," answered Regina, showing the empty bowl.
"Health to him!" answered Paoluccio.

"He has a good appetite." "Eat your own," said Nanna to the girl.
She suspected that Regina might have eaten the beans meant for Marcello, but her doubt vanished as she saw how the hungry young thing devoured her own portion.
"Are there any more left ?" Regina asked when she had finished, for she understood perfectly what was going on in the minds of the other two.
She looked into the earthen cooking-pot which now stood on the corner of the hearth.
"Not even the smell of any more," answered Nanna.

"There is bread." Regina's white teeth crushed the hard brown crust as if she had not eaten for a week.