s of various
coachmen. Freya was the one who refused their offers. She wished to
return to Naples on foot, following the easy descent of the road of
Posilipo after their long inaction in the restaurant. Her face was warm
and flushed because of the excess of wine.

Ulysses gave her his arm and they began to move through the shadows,
insensibly impelled in their march by the ease of the downward slope.
Freya knew just what this trip would mean. At the very first step the
sailor advised her with a kiss on the neck. He was going to take
advantage of all the windings of the road, of the hills and terraces
cut through in certain places to show the phosphorescent gulf across
the foliage, and of the long shadowy stretch broken only now and then
by the public echoes or the lanterns of carriages and tramways....

But these liberties were already an accepted thing. She had taken the
first step in the Aquarium: besides, she was sure of her ability to
keep her lover at whatever distance she might choose to fix.... And
convinced of her power of checking herself in time, she gave herself up
like a lost woman.

Never had Ferragut had such a propitious occasion. It was a
trysting-place in the mystery of the night with plenty of time ahead of
them. The only trouble was the necessity of walking on, of accompanying
his embraces and protests of love with the incessant activity of
walking. She protested, coming out from her rapture every time that the
enamored man would propose that they sit down on the side of the road.

Hope made Ulysses very obedient to Freya, desirous of reaching Naples
as soon as possible. Down there in the curve of the light near the gulf
was the hotel, and the sailor looked upon it as a place of happiness.

"Say yes," he murmured in her ear, punctuating his words with kisses,
"say that it will be to-night!..."

She did not reply, leaning on the arm that the captain had passed
around her waist, letting herself be dragged along as if she were
half-fainting, rolling her eyes and offering her lips.

While Ulysses was repeating his pleadings and caresses the voice in his
brain was chanting victoriously, "Here it is!... It's settled now....
The thing now is to get her to the hotel."

They roamed on for nearly an hour, fancying that only a few minutes had
passed by.

Approaching the gardens of the _Villa Nazionale_, near the Aquarium,
they stopped an instant. There were fewer people and more life here
than in the