'"
"Leo," she said, with proud lips, "he never called me '_Nenna
mia_'--never! He dared not!"
In another instant, he could see, there would have been protesting tears
in her eyes; and even Mrs. Grey, who did not know the meaning of the
familiar Neapolitan phrase,[1] noticed the tremulous indignation in the
girl's voice.
[Footnote 1: _Nenna mia_ or _Nenna bella_ is the pet phrase used by
the Neapolitan young man in addressing his sweetheart. _Nenna_ has
nothing to do with _Nina_, which is a contraction of Antonia.]
"Of course not, Nina," he said, at once; "I was only joking--but you
know he did use to sing that confounded 'Antoniella, Antonia,' and it
was always you he was thinking of."
"I did not think of _him_, then!" said she, almost instantly recovering
her self-control. "Him? No! When I go out--when I was going out in the
_Santa Lucia_, I looked at the English gentlemen--all so simple and
honest in their dress--perhaps a steel watch-chain to a gold watch--not
a sham gold chain to no watch! Then they looked so clean and
wholesome--is it right, wholesome?--not their hair dripping with grease,
as the peasant-girls love it.
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