She reaches under her desk, then places a mysterious object swaddled in thick velvet cloth onto the desk. Whipping off the violet cloth with a flourish, she unveils a crystal ball. Giuseppina is mesmerized. “The velvet cloth—to shroud its powers?” “No”—Mamma Fortuna points to the light streaming in through her windows—“the ball keeps setting fire to my curtains.” Giuseppina notes that the curtains are indeed singed to half their length, black at their bases.
