There were only two Americans stopping at the hotel. They did not know any of the people they passed on the stairs on their way to and from their room. Their room was on the second floor facing the sea. It also faced the public garden and the war monument. There were big palms and green benches in the public garden.<\/p>\n
In the good weather there was always an artist with his easel. Artists liked the way the palms grew and the bright colors of the hotels facing the gardens and the sea. Italians came from a long way off to look up at the war monument. It was made of bronze and glistened in the rain. It was raining. The rain dripped from the palm trees. Water stood in pools on the gravel paths.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The sea broke in a long line in the rain and slipped back down the beach to come up and break again in a long line in the rain. The motor cars were gone from the square by the war monument. Across the square in the doorway of the caf\u00e9 a waiter stood looking out at the empty square.
\nThe American wife stood at the window looking out. Outside right under their window a cat was crouched
\nunder one of the dripping green tables. The cat was trying to make herself so compact that she would not be
\ndripped on.
\n\u2018I\u2019m going down and get that kitty,\u2019 the American wife said.
\n\u2018I\u2019ll do it,\u2019 her husband offered from the bed.
\n\u2018No, I\u2019ll get it. The poor kitty out trying to keep dry under a table.\u2019
\nThe husband went on reading, lying propped up with the two pillows at the foot of the bed.
\n\u2018Don\u2019t get wet,\u2019 he said.
\nThe wife went downstairs and the hotel owner stood up and bowed to her as she passed the office. His desk
\nwas at the far end of the office. He was an old man and very tall.
\n\u2018Il piove,1
\n\u2019the wife said. She liked the hotel-keeper.
\n\u2018Si, Si, Signora, brutto tempo2
\n. It is very bad weather.\u2019
\nHe stood behind his desk in the far end of the dim room. The wife liked him. She liked the deadly serious
\nway he received any complaints. She liked his dignity. She liked the way he wanted to serve her. She liked the
\nway he felt about being a hotel-keeper. She liked his old, heavy face and big hands.
\nLiking him she opened the door and looked out. It was raining harder. A man in a rubber cape was crossing
\nthe empty square to the caf\u00e9. The cat would be around to the right. Perhaps she could go along under the eaves.
\nAs she stood in the doorway an umbrella opened behind her. It was the maid who looked after their room.
\n\u2018You must not get wet,\u2019 she smiled, speaking Italian. Of course, the hotel-keeper had sent her.
\nWith the maid holding the umbrella over her, she walked along the gravel path until she was under their
\nwindow. The table was there, washed bright green in the rain, but the cat was gone. She was suddenly
\ndisappointed. The maid looked up at her.
\n\u2018Ha perduto qualque cosa, Signora?\u20193
\n\u2018There was a cat,\u2019 said the American girl.
\n\u2018A cat?\u2019
\n\u2018Si, il gatto.\u2019
\n\u2018A cat?\u2019 the maid laughed. \u2018A cat in the rain?\u2019
\n\u2018Yes, \u2013\u2019 she said, \u2018under the table.\u2019 Then, \u2018Oh, I wanted it so much. I wanted a kitty.\u2019
\nWhen she talked English the maid\u2019s face tightened.
\n\u2018Come, Signora,\u2019 she said. \u2018We must get back inside. You will be wet.\u2019
\n\u2018I suppose so,\u2019 said the American girl.
\nThey went back along the gravel path and passed in the door. The maid stayed outside to close the umbrella.
\nAs the American girl passed the office, the padrone bowed from his desk. Something felt very small and tight
\ninside the girl. The padrone made her feel very small and at the same time really important. She had a
\nmomentary feeling of being of supreme importance. She went on up the stairs. She opened the door of the room.
\nGeorge was on the bed, reading.
\n\u2018Did you get the cat?\u2019 he asked, putting the book down.
\n\u2018It was gone.\u2019
\n\u2018Wonder where it went to,\u2019 he said, resting his eyes from reading.
\nShe sat down on the bed.
\n\u2018I wanted it so much,\u2019 she said. \u2018I don\u2019t know why I wanted it so much. I wanted that poor kitty. It isn\u2019t any
\nfun to be a poor kitty out in the rain.\u2019
\nGeorge was reading again.
\nShe went over and sat in front of the mirror of the dressing table looking at herself with the hand glass. She
\nstudied her profile, first one side and then the other. Then she studied the back of her head and her neck.
\n\u2018Don\u2019t you think it would be a good idea if I let my hair grow out?\u2019 she asked, looking at her profile again.
\nGeorge looked up and saw the back of her neck, clipped close like a boy\u2019s.
\n\u2018I like it the way it is.\u2019
\n\u2018I get so tired of it,\u2019 she said. \u2018I get so tired of looking like a boy.\u2019
\nGeorge shifted his position in the bed. He hadn\u2019t looked away from her since she started to speak.
\n\u2018You look pretty darn nice,\u2019 he said.
\nShe laid the mirror down on the dresser and went over to the window and looked out. It was getting dark.
\n\u2018I want to pull my hair back tight and smooth and make a big knot at the back that I can feel,\u2019 she said. \u2018I
\nwant to have a kitty to sit on my lap and purr when I stroke her.\u2019
\n\u2018Yeah?\u2019 George said from the bed.
\n\u2018And I want to eat at a table with my own silver and I want candles. And I want it to be spring and I want to
\nbrush my hair out in front of a mirror and I want a kitty and I want some new clothes.\u2019
\n\u2018Oh, shut up and get something to read,\u2019 George said. He was reading again.
\nHis wife was looking out of the window. It was quite dark now and still raining in the palm trees.
\n\u2018Anyway, I want a cat,\u2019 she said, \u2018I want a cat. I want a cat now. If I can\u2019t have long hair or any fun, I can
\nhave a cat.\u2019
\nGeorge was not listening. He was reading his book. His wife looked out of the window where the light had
\ncome on in the square.
\nSomeone knocked at the door.
\n\u2018Avanti,\u2019 George said. He looked up from his book.
\nIn the doorway stood the maid. She held a big tortoiseshell cat pressed tight against her and swung down
\nagainst her body.
\n\u2018Excuse me,\u2019 she said, \u2018the padrone asked me to bring this for the Signora.\u2019<\/p>\n
1 \u2018It\u2019s raining.\u2019
\n2 \u2018Yes, yes Madam. Awful weather.\u2019
\n3 \u2018Have you lost something, Madam?\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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