Section 2 Summary

Later that day, Mantini returns to his home, the Villa Cappellini, where Mohammed is working in the kitchen. Mantini can sense Lucia's presence, as he undresses and notices the baby bed all covered in ruffles and lace.

Mantini tells Mohammed that he met Carla today, the wife of the man whose shirts Mohammed irons. Mantini recalls meeting Dan at a party last summer and bristles at the memory of Dan dancing suggestively with Lucia. Mantini had asserted his husbandly rights over Lucia after the dance to show this bold American to whom Lucia belonged.

Now, Lucia is dead, and Mantini has a hard time remembering her some days. Mantini also thinks of Carla, the American's wife, who has rekindled his feelings of romance so unexpectedly.

Section 2 Analysis

The author uses the literary technique of irony in the story through the situation at the...