One of the girls behind the door started up again, and asked, “Titorelli, is he going to go soon?” “Quiet!” shouted the painter at the door, “Can’t you see I’m talking with the gentleman?” But this was not enough to satisfy the girl and she asked, “You going to paint his picture?” And when the painter didn’t answer she added, “Please don’t paint him, he’s an ’orrible bloke.” There followed an incomprehensible, interwoven babble of shouts and replies and calls of agreement. The painter leapt over to the door, opened it very slightly—the girls’ clasped hands could be seen stretching through the crack as if they wanted something—and said, “If you’re not quiet I’ll throw you all down the stairs. Sit down here on the steps and be quiet.” They probably did not obey him immediately, so that he had to command, “Down on the steps!” Only then it became quiet.