"And that hope is enough to enliven them, I suppose," said Giulia. "My dear Duke said to me, very soon after our marriage: 'Pargoletta!'--you know he loved to call me 'pargoletta,' or 'animetta,' or 'dolce alma mia,'--he said, 'Pargoletta, don't have much to say to your maids; they are light and frivolous, and will do you no good.' And I loved to obey him; and I love to obey him still, for he was a wise man." "They might do you no good, but you might do them great good now," said Vittoria. "O, my dear, that set have long married off, and had their portions--so many ducats, a bed, bedding, and ewer and basin." "The new set, then--" "Here's a strawberry, I declare," said Giulia, diving into the leaves on the bank upon which they were sitting. "Do have it!" "No, thank you. The--" "I could no more preach and pray with my maids as you do, Vittoria, than I could fly!" "Why not?" "I should die of shame." "Nonsense," said the Marchioness, laughing. "I really should. It would be so ridiculous." "Quite otherwise, I think, if you undertook it in the right spirit." "But I never could. It is not in me. They would all begin to laugh--" "They must be under very poor control, then," said Vittoria. "Besides, it would be so uncalled for--it would take their thoughts off their proper work." "What is their proper work?" "To do vast quantities of embroidery and fine needlework." "Well, I think _your_ proper work is to care for their souls." "That's Fra Silvano's office." "Does he fulfil it?" "Not very well, I'm afraid. He chatters and laughs with them too much." "I should like to see him chatter and laugh with _my_ maids," said Vittoria, kindling. "He should not do so twice." "Ah," said Giulia, after a pause--"I wish I were as good as you, Vittoria--" "My dear soul, I am not good." "You are a great deal better than I am. Such as I am, I am and ever shall be." "Hush, we can none of us say that!" "At any rate, there is no good thing in me, to impart to others. And the girls do very well as they are--they stick to their needles." "What do they think of the while?" "Of their needles, I suppose." "If they do, they are better than I am," said Vittoria, almost with a groan. "Oh, Giulia, don't believe it!" "Well, I suppose nonsense of some sort may pass through their heads," said Giulia, rather uneasily. "How am I to keep it out?" "By putting something better in. Not merely by preaching and praying, but by supplying proper, innocent food for their imaginations and fancies. You know I read my girls pleasant tales and dialogues sometimes, and lend them books of poetry and history." "Well, your girls are certainly better conducted than mine," said Giulia. "They giggle less." "A canister with very little in it always rattles," said Vittoria. "I hate giggling." "So do I; and, do you know, my dear Vittoria, that is one reason why I have so little to say to my maids."