that before," answered her mother. "But after
all, wishing does no harm, and I am silly enough to wish we were rich
too."

"If I married Marcello, I should be very rich," said Aurora, ceasing to
turn the hat, but still contemplating it critically.

Maddalena looked at her daughter in some surprise. The girl's face was
quite grave.

"You had better think of getting rich in some other way, my dear," said
the Contessa presently, with an asperity that did not escape Aurora, but
produced no impression on her.

"I was only supposing," she said. "But if it comes to that, it would be
much better for him to marry me than that good-looking peasant girl he
has picked up."

The Contessa sat up straight and stared at her in astonishment. There
was a coolness in the speech that positively horrified her.

"My dear child!" she cried. "What in the world are you talking about?"

"Regina," answered Aurora, looking up, and throwing the hat upon the
table. "I am talking about Marcello's Regina. Did you suppose I had
never heard of her, and that I did not guess that it was she, the other
night? I had a good look at her. I hate her, but she is handsome. You
cannot deny that."

"I do not deny it, I'm sure!" The Contessa hardly knew what to say.

"Very well. Would it not be much better for Marcello if he married me
than if he let Regina marry him, as she will!"

"I--possibly--you put it so strangely! But I am sure Marcello will never
think of marrying her."

"Then why does he go about with her, and what is it all for?" Aurora
gazed innocently at her mother, waiting for an answer which did not
come. "Besides," she added, "the girl will marry him, of course."

"Perhaps. I daresay you are right, and after all, she may be in love
with him. Why should you care, child?"

"Because he used to be my best friend," Aurora answered demurely. "Is it
wrong to take an interest in one's friends? And I still think of him as
my friend, though I have never had a chance to speak to him since that
day by the Roman shore, when he went off in a rage because I laughed at
him. I wonder whether he has forgotten that! They say he lost his memory
during his illness."

"What a strange girl you are! You have hardly ever spoken of him in all
this time, and now"--the Contessa laughed as if she thought the idea
absurd--"and now you talk of marrying him!"

"I have seen Regina," Aurora replied, as if that explained everything.

The Contessa returned no answer