Adam's Breed

To please her he drank up the good beef tea, and the milk and wine that she brought him; and when she took him his simple meals, he made her stand by him and watch while he ate, hoping to reassure her.

"Give me a little more fish," he would say, then look up quickly at her face; and because of her smile he would praise the fish: "It is good, I must be getting much better, Maddalena, already I feel much better."