in that pretentious armoury.

The Contessa came out to her presently. She was a large woman, and as
she was angry she seemed to swell and redden and gobble as turkeys do.

"Are you the _giovinetta_? You will take this dress away. It is not
fit to put on." She held the bodice in her hand, and as she spoke she
shook it in Olive's face. "The stitches are all awry; they are
enormous; and half the embroidery is blue and the other half green. I
shall make her pay for the material. The dress is ruined, and it is
the last she shall make for me. She must pay me, and you must tell her
so."

Olive collected her scattered wits. "If the Signora Contessa would
allow me to look," she said.

The stitches were very large, and her heart sank as she examined them.
The poor women had toiled so over this work, stooping over it,
straining their tired eyes. "I think we can alter it to your
satisfaction, but I must ask you to be indulgent, signora. I will
bring it back the day after to-morrow, if that will suit you." She
folded the bodice carefully and wrapped it in the piece of paper she
had brought it in, fastening the four corners with pins.

"The skirt goes well?"

"It will do," the Contessa admitted as she turned away. "Anacleto!"

A slender, dark-eyed youth emerged from the shadows at the far end of
the passage, bringing a sound and smell of frying with him. His bare
brown arms were floury and he wiped them on his striped cotton apron
as he came forward to open the door. He wore a white camellia thrust
behind one ear.

"It would be convenient--Signora Manara would be glad if you could pay
part of her account," faltered Olive.

The Contessa stopped short. "I could, but I will not," she said
emphatically. "She does her work too badly."

The young servant grinned at the girl as she passed out. She was
half-way down the stairs when he came out on to the landing and leaned
over the banisters.

"Never! Never!" he called down to her. "They never pay anyone. I am
leaving to-morrow."

The white camellia dropped at her feet. She smiled involuntarily as
she stooped to gather up the token. "Men are rather dears."

She met Ser Giulia coming down the stairs of their house. The little
woman looked quickly at the bundle she carried as she asked why it had
been brought back.

"She wants it altered! _Dio mio!_ And I worked so hard at it. How much
of the money has she given you?"

"She has given nothing; I hope she will pay when I take