Alvarito

Alvarito, known in the hunting party as the Barone, is a socially attentive but understated presence in Richard Cantwell’s circle. His brief appearances balance sporting competence with a shy manner and a light, companionable exchange that gives their relationship a personal texture.

Identity and Presence

Alvarito is identified as the Barone, a title used by the head keeper when reporting the day’s shooting. When Richard meets him beside the open fire, Alvarito smiles shyly and speaks in a low-pitched voice. His apology that Richard had not had better shooting shows him acknowledging Richard’s disappointing day without making much of it.

The Shoot

Richard’s own post had frozen up, and the head keeper explains that a little current kept another place open for a while. Asked who had been top gun, he reports that the Barone killed forty-two. The contrast is pointed: Richard’s party had been held back by the conditions, while Alvarito had made a striking bag. Alvarito nevertheless responds to Richard’s poor shooting with sympathy rather than triumph.

Before the shoot, Richard says Alvarito would have invited his interlocutor if he wanted her to come. She suggests that he might not have asked precisely because he wanted her there; Richard pauses to consider this and concedes that she may be right. The exchange leaves Alvarito’s intentions open, but presents him as someone whose silence can be read in more than one way.

Relationship with Richard Cantwell

Their conversation turns from the shoot to comic books. Alvarito admits that he should learn to read them and asks Richard to bring some from Trieste. Richard agrees to get him any amount, from Superman onward, and asks him to read some on Richard’s behalf. The request makes their friendship feel informal and reciprocal: Alvarito brings Richard into his interest, while Richard treats the request as an invitation to share it.

The ease of that exchange also gives Alvarito room to explain a tense encounter. Richard asks why the gamekeeper who poled his boat seemed to dislike him. Alvarito attributes the hostility to Richard’s old battle jacket, explaining that Allied uniform affects the gamekeeper that way and that the man had been “a bit over-liberated.” In a few sentences, Alvarito acts as interpreter between Richard and a local whose reaction Richard could not otherwise explain.