e, and once or
twice, when she reflected on the importance of knowing whether the
writer was alive before giving his letter to Sister Giovanna, she
almost yielded; but not quite, for she was an honourable little woman,
according to her lights.

Late on that night Giovanni got into the train that was to bring him
to Rome before Madame Bernard would be ready to go out in the morning.

Ugo Severi had been summoned by the Minister some days previously, and
had been told that his brother was alive and coming home, and would
lodge with him. Meanwhile Captain Ugo was put on his honour to say
nothing of the matter to his friends. Such a recommendation was, in
fact, needed, as Ugo would otherwise have informed the Princess
Chiaromonte, if no one else. Considering how much feeling she had
shown about Giovanni's supposed death, it would have been only humane
to do so; but the Minister's instructions were precise and emphatic,
and Ugo kept what he knew to himself and thought about it so
continually that Confucianism temporarily lost its interest for him.

He had always been on good terms with Giovanni, though they had not
seen much of each other after the latter was appointed to the Staff.
As for the brother who was in the Navy, Ugo rarely saw him or even
heard of him, and since their father had died he himself had led a
very lonely existence. His delight on learning that Giovanni had
escaped and was returning may be imagined, for, in spite of his
apparent coldness and love of solitude, he was a man of heart, and
like many Italians of all classes his ideal of happiness would have
been to live quietly under one roof with his brothers and sister.
There is probably no other people in the world that finds such
permanent satisfaction in what most of us would think a dull family
life. It is a survival of the ancient patriarchal way of living, when
the 'family' was a religion and its head was at once its absolute
ruler and its high priest.

The only preparation which Ugo had made for receiving Giovanni was the
purchase of an iron folding camp-bed. He told his orderly that a
brother officer of his might have to spend a night in the house before
long, which was strictly true. In due time a soldier on a bicycle
brought him an official note from the Minister, informing him that
Giovanni had reached Naples and would appear at Monteverde on the
following morning. This note came late in the afternoon, and Ugo
thought it needless to inform P