Lucia's cheerfulness was not genuine, and any one possessing greater penetration than her mother would have understood that she was, in reality, more frightened than she was willing to show.

The girl had a large proportion of common sense, combined with a quicker perception than the stout Signora Pandolfi.

She did not think that she knew anything about logic, and she had always shown a certain inconsistency in her affection for Gianbattista, but she had nevertheless a very clear idea of what was reasonable, a quality which is of immense value in difficulties, though it is very often despised in every-day life by people who believe themselves blessed by the inspirations of genius.
It seems very hard to make people of other nationalities understand that the Italians of the present day are not an imaginative people.

It is nevertheless true, and it is only necessary to notice that they produce few, if any, works of imagination.

They have no writers of fiction, no poets, few composers of merit and few artists who rank with those of other nations.