Adam's Breed by Radclyffe Hall — Read

Nerone was less fortunate in his affairs, a fact for which he blamed Geppe. Geppe was a lazy and insolent young man with a predilection for philandering. He hated the shop though he liked its contents, to which he helped himself freely. This so much enraged the miserly Nerone that he would actually threaten to send for the police; then Rosa would weep and implore forgiveness for her plump and unsatisfactory offspring.

"I spare him this time, but the next time I send," Nerone would babble in a fury. "This is all Mario's fault; he was always a fool; he has spoilt the young, idling ruffian!"