ttle; I have not time to do much."

"Ah, of course! I understood from Signora Grassini that you undertake
other important work as well."

Gemma raised her eyebrows slightly. Signora Grassini, like the silly
little woman she was, had evidently been chattering imprudently to this
slippery creature, whom Gemma, for her part, was beginning actually to
dislike.

"My time is a good deal taken up," she said rather stiffly; "but Signora
Grassini overrates the importance of my occupations. They are mostly of
a very trivial character."

"Well, the world would be in a bad way if we ALL of us spent our time in
chanting dirges for Italy. I should think the neighbourhood of our
host of this evening and his wife would make anybody frivolous,
in self-defence. Oh, yes, I know what you're going to say; you are
perfectly right, but they are both so deliciously funny with their
patriotism.--Are you going in already? It is so nice out here!"

"I think I will go in now. Is that my scarf? Thank you."

He had picked it up, and now stood looking at her with wide eyes as blue
and innocent as forget-me-nots in a brook.

"I know you are offended with me," he said penitently, "for fooling that
painted-up wax doll; but what can a fellow do?"

"Since you ask me, I do think it an ungenerous and--well--cowardly thing
to hold one's intellectual inferiors up to ridicule in that way; it is
like laughing at a cripple, or------"

He caught his breath suddenly, painfully; and shrank back, glancing at
his lame foot and mutilated hand. In another instant he recovered his
self-possession and burst out laughing.

"That's hardly a fair comparison, signora; we cripples don't flaunt our
deformities in people's faces as she does her stupidity. At least give
us credit for recognizing that crooked backs are no pleasanter than
crooked ways. There is a step here; will you take my arm?"

She re-entered the house in embarrassed silence; his unexpected
sensitiveness had completely disconcerted her.

Directly he opened the door of the great reception room she realized
that something unusual had happened in her absence. Most of the
gentlemen looked both angry and uncomfortable; the ladies, with hot
cheeks and carefully feigned unconsciousness, were all collected at one
end of the room; the host was fingering his eye-glasses with suppressed
but unmistakable fury, and a little group of tourists stood in a
corner casting amused glances at the further end of the ro