ance. Then appeared a young man,
ill-dressed, red-haired, and shy. Carelessly as he greeted the mother
and daughters, his entrance, however, transformed them. The mother
forgot fatigue; the beauty ceased to yawn; the younger girl, who had
been making surreptitious notes of Kitty's costume in the last leaf of
her guide-book, developed a charming gush. He was the owner of the
Magellan estates and the historic Magellan Castle; a professed hater of
"absurd womankind," and, in general, a hunted and self-conscious person.
Kitty gave him one finger, looked him up and down, asked him whether he
was yet engaged, and when he laughed an embarrassed "No," told him that
he would certainly die in the arms of the Magellan housekeeper.

This got a smile out of him. He sat down beside her, and the two laughed
and talked with a freedom which presently drew the attention of the
neighboring tables, and made Ashe uncomfortable. He rose, paid the bill,
and succeeded in carrying the whole party off to the Piazza, in search
of coffee. But here again Kitty's extravagances, the provocation of her
light loveliness, as she sat toying with a fresh cigarette and
"chaffing" Lord Magellan, drew a disagreeable amount of notice from the
Italians passing by.

"Mother, let's go!" said the angry beauty, imperiously, in her mother's
ear. "I don't like to be seen with Lady Kitty! She's impossible!"

And with cold farewells the three ladies departed. Then Kitty sprang up
and threw away her cigarette.

"How those girls bully their mother!" she said, with scorn. "However, it
serves her right. I'm sure she bullied hers. Well, now we must go and do
something. Ta-ta!"

Lord Magellan, to whom she offered another casual finger, wanted to know
why he was dismissed. If they were going sight-seeing, might he not come
with them?"

"Oh no!" said Kitty, calmly. "Sight--seeing with people you don't really
know is too trying to the temper. Even with one's best friend it's
risky."

"Where are you? May I call?" said the young man.

"We're always out," was Kitty's careless reply. "But--"

She considered--

"Would you like to see the Palazzo Vercelli?"

"That magnificent place on the Grand Canal? Very much."

"Meet me there to-morrow afternoon," said Kitty. "Four o'clock."

"Delighted!" said Lord Magellan, making a note on his shirt-cuff. "And
who lives there?"

"My mother," said Kitty, abruptly, and walked away.

Ashe followed her in discomfort. This young m