Massimo proposes leaving Montanina

Massimo Alberti’s proposal to leave Montanina begins as a response to Lelia’s conspicuous coolness and becomes a measure of the obligations that bind him there. He tells her not to trouble herself on his behalf and offers to go alone; after their strained encounter, he informs Don Aurelio that he is resolved to leave that very evening. The departure does not happen at once. Don Aurelio’s appeal, his promise to Marcello Trento, and Donna Fedele’s invitation successively defer Massimo’s decision, making the episode less a clean break than a series of reluctant stays.

The walk and the offer to go alone

Lelia leads Massimo along the grounds of Montanina, pointing out its features in the manner of a guide: the sundial, the figure of Albertus Magnus, the goat’s head pouring water from the Riderella, and Fonte Modesta. Her list sounds to him like a lesson repeated too often, while he remains silent and waits until they are far enough from the house to speak. He then tells her that he had not pressed Marcello Trento because he did not want to displease him, but that she need not inconvenience herself on his account. He will go alone if she permits it.

Lelia answers coldly and steps aside on the narrow path. She waits, eyes lowered and rigid, while Massimo passes without looking at her. His manner is tense; once beyond her, he wonders what she has supposed about him and concludes that she must think he is courting her. He also recasts her earlier questions about Benedetto as deliberate impertinences. The scene therefore supplies no clear declaration from Lelia about her motives: the decision to leave grows out of Massimo’s reading of her conduct, and the distance between what he sees and what he can know remains part of the conflict.

A departure planned, then resisted

After the encounter, Massimo tells Don Aurelio that he has asked Lelia not to trouble herself and has been left alone to think over his own affairs. He announces that he will leave Montanina that evening and hopes he can still find a room with the Protestant. Don Aurelio replies that he has just promised Marcello Trento that Massimo will remain at least a couple of weeks, perhaps for the whole period originally allotted to his stay in Lago di Velo. Massimo says that staying at Montanina is wholly impossible for him; if Don Aurelio does not want him as a guest during the final days of his pastoral ministry, he will return to Milano.

Don Aurelio asks whether some personal interest is calling Massimo back to Milano. Massimo emphatically denies it. The question tests whether his proposed departure has another attachment behind it, but he presents it instead as a choice between remaining in an intolerable situation and returning to the city. Don Aurelio counters the ultimatum with an appeal to their relationship: Massimo must not cause an old man such distress. The appeal does not immediately change Massimo’s mind, but it turns departure from a private decision into a question of what he owes his host and friend.

The real grievance and the delay

Don Aurelio suspects that something unpleasant has happened and asks whether the questions Lelia asked about Benedetto offended Massimo. Massimo says that she did not know the truth and had repeated slanders from a newspaper; he also denies that they discussed the matter again in the garden. Only after Don Aurelio presses him does he confess what is actually troubling him: Lelia cannot stand him, and she has made that plain. Don Aurelio initially finds this hard to believe. Once Massimo recounts the signs, Don Aurelio concedes that such things may be slight when described but powerful when felt.

This exchange sharpens the distinction between the apparent pretext and the immediate cause of Massimo’s resolve. The newspaper’s claims about Benedetto are not, in his account, the injury that has driven him away. What weighs on him is Lelia’s hostility, though Don Aurelio considers the reported evidence slight and urges him not to decide too quickly. He secures a delay: Massimo may leave the following evening if his impression remains unchanged. He also directs him to make an immediate farewell visit to Donna Fedele at Villino delle Rose, insisting that he set out without returning to the house so he will be sure to find her.

Hospitality becomes another reason to stay

Don Aurelio goes directly to Marcello Trento for a long conversation, then returns to Sant’Ubaldo. Marcello summons Lelia and tells her that Massimo is very dear to him and that she understands why. He wants Massimo to remain at Montanina and asks her to treat him kindly. Lelia stands rigid and livid, saying that she had not known she was being unkind. Marcello does not answer that denial directly; his quiet appeal leaves the strain between her outward composure and his request unresolved.

The visit Don Aurelio arranged brings a further postponement. Donna Fedele arrives while Lelia is playing Schumann and finds Massimo standing before the fireplace. She embraces Lelia affectionately, as if the shadow between them had never touched their friendship, and tells Massimo that she and his mother were friends. She invites him to her home the next day so that they can speak about his mother, whom she remembers as very dear. Massimo is moved and begins to object, but Donna Fedele carries on with the invitation and fixes the appointment for seven. Marcello gladly grants him one day.

Massimo accepts the delay, persuading himself that he is content to stay because Don Aurelio will be content. On the terrace, Marcello sits him beside him and grips his shoulder; Massimo takes Marcello’s other hand in both of his and assures him that he does not forget. The action thus ends not with Massimo’s departure but with a temporary renewal of his place at Montanina. His willingness to remain is still qualified—he has accepted a day, not withdrawn his judgment of Lelia’s hostility—but each appeal makes leaving carry a new personal cost. What began as a solitary exit becomes an interval shaped by hospitality, friendship, and an invitation to remember the dead through the woman who knew his mother.