t fancy I scent the aroma
of the noble wine. And that latter idea must be realised, and not
allowed to evaporate in this chill atmosphere. I propose that we go and
drink a bottle of real Italian wine, in honour of this charming
picture, and of the happy land of Italy, the only country where life is
worth living.'

"As Edward so spoke, Theodore was standing silent, sunk in deep
reflection.

"'Very well--yes--we may as well,' he answered, like a man waking from
a dream. Yet he seemed loth to tear himself away from the picture, and
still kept casting longing glances at it when he had mechanically
followed his friend to the door.

"It was an easy matter to put Edward's idea into practice. They had
only to cross the street to find themselves in the little blue room in
the Sala Tarone, with a wicker-covered flask, like those in the
picture, on the table before them.

"'You seem, somehow,' said Edward, when they had swallowed two or three
glasses of the Italian wine, and Theodore was still sitting silent and
thoughtful,--'you seem, somehow, as if that picture had produced a
different impression, and a far less pleasant one, on you than on me.'

"'I delight in that picture as much as anybody,' answered Theodore.
'But the extraordinary thing about it is, that it chances to represent
a scene in my early life, with the utmost exactness, so that the very
characters in it are absolute portraits of the real actors in that
scene. You will admit that even pleasant reminiscences affect us
strangely when they come bursting in upon us in this utterly unexpected
sort of manner, as if evoked by the wand of an enchanter.'

"'What a very extraordinary affair,' said Edward. 'You say this picture
represents an incident, in your own life? It seems probable enough that
the two ladies and the _abbate_ are likenesses of real people: but that
they should ever have had anything to do with _you_ is certainly
amazing enough. Do tell me all about it. We are not pressed for time,
and nobody is likely to come in and disturb us at this hour of the
day.'

"'I should rather like to tell you about it,' said Theodore, 'only I
shall have to go a longish way back, to the time when I was a mere
boy.'

"Please go on, then, and tell me about it,' said Edward. 'I don't know
much about your early life; and if it does take some time in telling we
shall only have to send for another bottle of this Italian wine; nobody
will be the worse for that, neither we n