beautiful look of love and understanding flashed from the hidden
soul of the woman to the soul of the man. Vanno saw it, and thrilled. So
would it be with him and the girl he loved.

XXVII

The motor was ordered for the Princess at a quarter to three. She wished
to arrive early at Mrs. Winter's, in order to have her chat with Miss
Grant before tea time. Her idea was to ask only for the guest, not for
the hostess, and be ready to leave before the hour when extraneous and
irrelevant guests might be expected to invade the chaplain's
drawing-room. There was, it appeared, a telephone in the apartment-house
where the Winters lived, and Vanno, getting into communication with Mary
after numerous difficulties, begged her to be in, and if possible alone,
for a visit from his sister-in-law. It was arranged that the cure, who
had never been in a motor-car, should be dropped at the foot of a
convenient short cut to Roquebrune, and Angelo and Vanno would go on
with Marie to Monte Carlo. Having left her at the Winters' door, Angelo
meant to walk with Vanno to his hotel, expecting later to pick up his
wife again. When the cure had bidden them goodbye, however, Marie
proposed a modification of the plan.

"Poor Angelo has been pining for Monte Carlo, I'm sure," she said,
laughing, her bright eyes and unusually pink cheeks alluring and
mysterious, under the thickly patterned black veil she had put on with
a large black velvet hat. "He's concealed his feelings well, I must say,
out of compliment to me, because I was so good about the villa. At first
I didn't want to have a house at Cap Martin. From all I'd heard, I
thought the Riviera must be so sophisticated--and somehow I've always
detested the idea of Monte Carlo. But you know, Vanno, how Angelo fell
in love with the Villa Mirasole when he visited the Grand Duke years
ago. He must have written you how he set his heart, even then, on having
it for his honeymoon if he married. I gave up my objections provided he
would promise that I needn't go to Monte Carlo, and that he wouldn't be
always running over there himself. Now, I'm glad, for I love the villa.
And you see, I'm on the way to Monte Carlo of my own accord! The next
thing is to tell Angelo he may play about there as long as he likes. I
shall keep the motor waiting while I'm at Miss Grant's, and go back in
it alone whenever I feel inclined. You needn't come to fetch me. I'd
rather not."

Both men looked disappointed: Van