Alpha Book

After long and melancholy
hesitation he ordered something which he believed he could eat, and
Orsino followed his example.
"Are all your people out of town?" Spicca asked, after a pause.
"Yes. I am alone."
"And what in the world is the attraction here? Why do you stay? I do not
wish to be indiscreet, and I was never afflicted with curiosity. But
cases of mental alienation grow more common every day, and as an old
friend of your father's I cannot overlook symptoms of madness in you. A
really sane person avoids Rome in August."
"It strikes me that I might say the same to you," answered Orsino. "I am
kept here by business. You have not even that excuse."
"How do you know?" asked Spicca, sharply. "Business has two main
elements--credit and debit. The one means the absence of the other. I
leave it to your lively intelligence to decide which of the two means
Rome in August, and which means Trouville or St. Moritz."
"I had not thought of it in that light."
"No? I daresay not. I constantly think of it.


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