Quotation from: Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard

Written by: Joseph Conrad

She turned away as if it had been something final, and busied herself
with household cares while Nostromo talked with her father. Conversation
with the old Garibaldino was not easy. Age had left his faculties
unimpaired, only they seemed to have withdrawn somewhere deep within
him. His answers were slow in coming, with an effect of august gravity.
But that day he was more animated, quicker; there seemed to be more
life in the old lion. He was uneasy for the integrity of his honour.
He believed Sidoni's warning as to Ramirez's designs upon his younger
daughter. And he did not trust her. She was flighty. He said nothing of
his cares to "Son Gian' Battista." It was a touch of senile vanity. He
wanted to show that he was equal yet to the task of guarding alone the
honour of his house.