Explore "Adam's Breed" by Radclyffe Hall on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
"On s'accoutume a tout," said a wise French writer, and he might have added, "Surtout quand on est jeune"; for youth in spite of its many small tragedies, its longings, its revolts, its uncertainties of spirit, has at least the blessing of adaptability, and no mean a blessing either. And so it was that by the end of eight months Gian-Luca had got used to the life of the Capo; his arms and his legs no longer ached acutely, his brain learnt to keep calm in moments of confusion, he seldom lost his temper and never lost his head; in fact, according to the watchful Padrone, Gian-Luca possessed that rarest of all gifts, the instinct for perfect service.
Mario's fall from grace as a super-waiter had somewhat disconcerted his pupil, who had honestly believed all that he had said regarding his position at the Capo. Mario was such a fine fellow at home, at times almost overbearing; but Mario at the Capo was a very different person; a cringing, servile, incompetent creature, who, far from being the Padrone's right hand, was obviously not even his left. It was evident therefore, that Mario had lied in a foolish spirit of bravado.