was evidently, then, that which before marriage he had believed
her to be--she was valuable. She certainly had been most valuable in
introducing him to Lady Caroline and Mrs. Fisher. A man in his
profession could be immensely helped by a clever and attractive wife.
Why had she not been attractive sooner? Why this sudden flowering?

Mr. Wilkins began too to believe there was something peculiar, as
Lotty had almost at once informed him, in the atmosphere of San
Salvatore. It promoted expansion. It brought out dormant qualities.
And feeling more and more pleased, and even charmed, by his wife, and
very content with the progress he was making with the two others, and
hopeful of progress to be made with the retiring third, Mr. Wilkins
could not remember ever having had such an agreeable holiday. The only
thing that might perhaps be bettered was the way they would call him
Mr. Wilkins. Nobody said Mr. Mellersh-Wilkins. Yet he had introduced
himself to Lady Caroline--he flinched a little on remembering the
circumstances--as Mellersh-Wilkins.

Still, this was a small matter, not enough to worry about. He
would be foolish if in such a place and such society he worried about
anything. He was not even worrying about what the holiday was costing,
and had made up his mind to pay not only his own expenses but his
wife's as well, and surprise her at the end by presenting her with her
nest-egg as intact as when she started; and just the knowledge that he
was preparing a happy surprise for her made him feel warmer than ever
towards her.

In fact Mr. Wilkins, who had begun by being consciously and
according to plan on his best behaviour, remained on it unconsciously,
and with no effort at all.

And meanwhile the beautiful golden days were dropping gently from
the second week one by one, equal in beauty with those of the first,
and the scent of beanfields in flower on the hillside behind the
village came across to San Salvatore whenever the air moved. In the
garden that second week the poet's eyed narcissus disappeared out the
long grass at the edge of the zigzag path, and wild gladiolus, slender
and rose-coloured, came in their stead, white pinks bloomed in the
borders, filing the whole place with their smoky-sweet smell, and a
bush nobody had noticed burst into glory and fragrance, and it was a
purple lilac bush. Such a jumble of spring and summer was not to be
believed in, except by those who dwelt in those gardens. Ev