Project Gutenberg's Daphne, An Autumn Pastoral, by Margaret Pollock Sherwood

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Title: Daphne, An Autumn Pastoral

Author: Margaret Pollock Sherwood

Posting Date: March 23, 2009 [EBook #2438]
Release Date: December, 2000

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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Produced by Stephanie L. Johnson. HTML version by Al Haines.

DAPHNE, AN AUTUMN PASTORAL

by

Margaret Sherwood

CHAPTER I

"Her Excellency,--will she have the politeness," said Daphne slowly,
reading from a tiny Italian-English phrase-book, "the politeness
to"--She stopped helpless. Old Giacomo gazed at her with questioning
eyes. The girl turned the pages swiftly and chose another phrase.

"I go," she announced, "I go to make a walk."

Light flashed into Giacomo's face.

"Si, si, Signorina; yes, yes," he assented with voice and shoulders and
a flourish of the spoon he was polishing. "Capisco; I understand."

Daphne consulted her dictionary.

"Down there," she said gravely, pointing toward the top of the great
hill on whose side the villa stood.

"Certainly," answered Giacomo with a bow, too much pleased by
understanding when there was no reason for it to be captious in regard
to the girl's speech. "The Signorina non ha paura, not 'fraid?"

"I'm not afraid of anything," was the answer in English. The Italian
version of it was a shaking of the head. Then both dictionary and
phrase-book were consulted.

"To return," she stated finally, "to return to eat at six hours." Then
she looked expectantly about.

"Assunta?" she said inquiringly, with a slight shrug of her shoulders,
for other means of expression had failed.

"Capisco, capisco," shouted Giacomo in his excitement, trailing on the
marble floor the chamois skin with which he had been polishing the
silver, and speaking in what seemed to his listener one word of a
thousand syllables.

"The-Signorina-goes-to-walk-upon-the-hills-above-the-villa-because-
it-is-a-most-beautiful-day.-She-returns-to-dine-at-six-and-wishes-
Assunta-to-have-dinner-prepared.-Perhaps-the-Signorina-would-
tell-what-she-would-like-for-her-dinner?-A-