II + 

At ten o’clock Gian-Luca put on his dress-suit, taking quite a long time in the process; he was almost as fussy about this ritual as he had been about all his other arrangements. But once dressed, there was nothing left for him to do, and more than two hours must elapse before luncheon; so he said to Roberto: + 

“I will open the wine, I wish to serve everything myself.” + 

“You have told me that three times already, signore,” Roberto replied, somewhat nettled. + 

“Very well then, I tell you again!” snapped Gian-Luca, who was feeling like an overwrought piccolo. + 

He sat down and anxiously studied his lists; nearly all the tables were booked. He said to Daniele: + 

“Can you manage, do you think? For God’s sake do not disturb me.” + 

“I can surely manage, Signor Gian-Luca,” Daniele replied, much aggrieved. + 

“Very well, then, remember all the things that I have told you,” warned Gian-Luca in an ominous voice. + 

They said to each other behind his back: “He is not like this as a rule⁠—today one would think he was new to the work. And why must he wait on Doria himself? That is not a headwaiter’s business.” + 

Gian-Luca could feel their covert disapproval, but it left him entirely unmoved. Tomorrow he would be their headwaiter again, the implacable Gian-Luca with the all-seeing eyes, and the method of a ruthless machine. But today he was going to be human for once, he was going to be a creature of feeling; today he would serve for the joy of serving, and his service should be a thing to remember, because it would have come from his heart. + 