‘But it is for you, I expect. On the floor below, is there a room like this?’
‘Not exactly: in the attic, there is the Ridottino, the room in which the borghesi meet, as you Italians call them’.
‘It’s therefore no use to say that you can access your box from here, noble lady countess of Visegrád".
‘I can only appreciate the irony in your deduction, but I am no noble by birth and my forebears are less illustrious than yours. Just this way, Lieutenant’.
Having crossed the communal corridor, Irina opened the door to reach a vestibule where theatregoers could deposit their overcoats. Having removed his own, Ziani approached his companion with hands outstretched.
‘May I? I’ll help you out of your coat. Where are the coat stands?’
‘How courteous of you! You can leave it to me,
