of its
own--has its own piety; just as much as the feeling of the son towards
the mother, which will sometimes survive amid the worst fumes of
depravation; and Tito could not yet be easy in committing a secret
offence against his wedded love.

But he was all the more careful in taking precautions to preserve the
secrecy of the offence. Monna Lisa, who, like many of her class, never
left her habitation except to go to one or two particular shops, and to
confession once a year, knew nothing of his real name and whereabout:
she only know that he paid her so as to make her very comfortable, and
minded little about the rest, save that she got fond of Tessa, and found
pleasure in the cares for which she was paid. There was some mystery
behind, clearly, since Tessa was a contadina, and Messer Naldo was a
signor; but, for aught Monna Lisa knew, he might be a real husband. For
Tito had thoroughly frightened Tessa into silence about the
circumstances of their marriage, by telling her that if she broke that
silence she would never see him again; and Monna Lisa's deafness, which
made it impossible to say anything to her without some premeditation,
had saved Tessa from any incautious revelation to her, such as had run
off her tongue in talking with Baldassarre. For a long while Tito's
visits were so rare, that it seemed likely enough he took journeys
between them. They were prompted chiefly by the desire to see that all
things were going on well with Tessa; and though he always found his
visit pleasanter than the prospect of it--always felt anew the charm of
that pretty ignorant lovingness and trust--he had not yet any real need
of it. But he was determined, if possible, to preserve the simplicity
on which the charm depended; to keep Tessa a genuine contadina, and not
place the small field-flower among conditions that would rob it of its
grace. He would have been shocked to see her in the dress of any other
rank than her own; the piquancy of her talk would be all gone, if things
began to have new relations for her, if her world became wider, her
pleasures less childish; and the squirrel-like enjoyment of nuts at
discretion marked the standard of the luxuries he had provided for her.
By this means, Tito saved Tessa's charm from being sullied; and he also,
by a convenient coincidence, saved himself from aggravating expenses
that were already rather importunate to a man whose money was all
required for his avowed habits of life.