Summary

The apartment buzzer startles Leda out of her reverie. Giovanni appears at Leda's door, carrying a package wrapped in paper. He assures her he will only stay a short time. Leda invites him in, and he tells her he has brought her some fish he caught. Leda tells him she does not know how to clean a fish, so he goes into the kitchen and quickly does so, then goes on to fry the fish for Leda. They begin to chat, and he tells Leda about his wife, who died three years earlier, and his children. He asks about her daughters. They sit on the couch to eat the fish and drink some wine that Leda has opened. Leda tells him about her work and about Bianca and Marta, adding that she is "pleased, I've done my duty as a mother, I've kept them...