m were a number of
other relations who had motored over to welcome Carmel home; her uncle,
Richard Greville, and Aunt Gabrielle, with their children, Douglas,
Aimee, Tito, and Claude; her mother's brother, Signor Bernardo Trapani,
with her cousins, Ernesto, Vittore, and Rosalia; and her mother's
sister, Signora Rosso, with pretty Berta and Gaspare, and little Pepino.

All these nineteen relations gave the Ingletons a typical Italian
greeting. They embraced Carmel with the warm-hearted demonstrative
enthusiasm characteristic of the country, and welcomed the rest of the
party with charming friendliness. Everybody chattered at once, making
kind inquiries about the journey, and the travelers were taken indoors
to change their dusty clothes before coming down to the elaborate lunch
that was spread ready in the dining-room.

The almost patriarchal hospitality of the Casa Bianca suggested the
establishment of an Arab chief, or a mediaeval baron, rather than that of
an ordinary household of the twentieth century. It was the strangest
combination of north and south that could be imagined. The Grevilles and
their relatives spoke English and Italian equally well, and conversed
sometimes in one language and sometimes in the other. They had been
settled for many years at Montalesso, and had, indeed, established
quite a colony of their own there. Mr. Frank Greville and his brother,
Richard, together with Signor Trapani and Signor Rosso, were partners in
a great fruit-shipping business. Thousands of cases of beautiful
oranges, lemons, grapes, and almonds were packed at their warehouses and
sent away to England and America. They had orange and lemon groves and
vineyards inland, and employed a small army of people tending the trees,
gathering the fruit, wrapping it, and dispatching it by sea at the port
of Targia Vecchia. Being connected by marriage as well as business, they
formed a pleasant family circle, and were constantly meeting at each
other's houses. Their children grew up in the happy Italian fashion of
counting cousins almost as close as brothers and sisters.

It took the Ingletons a little while to get accustomed to the life at
Casa Bianca, but Carmel, sitting in the creeper-covered veranda,
explained many things to them.

"You mustn't think our particular ways are the ways of the country.
We're an absolute mixture of English and Italian; Aunt Gabrielle is
French, and Aunt Giulia a real Sicilian."

"What is the differenc