Infinity: The Story of a Moment

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I asked him first how he had come to work for Mr Pavone.

— I heard he was looking for someone, he said.

— How did you hear?

— One hears.

— You had been in service before?

— To tell you the truth, sir, I was out of work. I had been working for my brother-in-law, but that had come to an end. I presented –

— Why had it come to an end?

— These things happen, sir.

— Of course. What were you doing for your brother-in-law?

— You asked me to talk about Mr Pavone.

— Of course. Please go on.

— I presented myself to Mr Pavone but he told me the post had already been filled. He took my number, though, and several days later he called me and asked me to come and see him.

— It was then he offered you the job?

— Yes, sir.

— What was your impression of Mr Pavone?

— In what sense?

— How did he strike you?

— Strike me?

— When you first met him, yes.

— As you know, sir, Mr Pavone was not your ordinary sort of gentleman. First of all he was Sicilian, you understand? And Sicilian gentlemen, Sicilian nobles, for Mr Pavone was a nobleman, the descendent of a very noble family, you know, sir, Sicilian nobles are a breed apart. And then he was an artist. You know that artists are called by God, and, if I may say so, are His servants as much as the Pope himself. But, above all, he was himself.

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