ry. Her father was not disposed to interfere
with what he called "a little harmless dissipation." He was confident
his daughter's "companion" must know what was proper, she being, as he
said, accustomed to good society. Were not all Italian ladies attended
by gentlemen? Who could blame a young girl for amusing herself? Meantime
Mr. Sparks amused himself after his own fashion, which was to sit
comfortably, with his feet up on the piazza rail of the hotel, imbibing
strong iced drinks through straws. But in reality Jacqueline had no
power whatever to preserve propriety, and only compromised herself by
her associations, though her own conduct was irreproachable. Indeed she
was considered quite prudish, and the rest of the mad crowd laughed
at her for having the manners of a governess. In vain she tried to say
words of warning to Nora; what she said was laughed at or resented in a
tone that told her that a paid companion had not the right to speak as
frankly as a friend.

Her business, she was plainly told one day, was to be on the spot in
case any impertinent suitor should venture too far in a tete-a-tete,
but short of that she was not to "spoilsport." "I am not doing anything
wrong; it is allowable in America," was Miss Nora's regular speech on
such occasions, and Jacqueline could not dispute the double argument.
Nora's conduct was not wicked, and in America such things might be
allowed. Yet Jacqueline tried to demonstrate that a young girl can not
pass unscathed through certain adventures, even if they are innocent in
the strict sense of the word; which made Nora cry out that all she said
was subterfuge and that she had no patience with prejudices.

In vain her young companion pointed out to her charge that other
Americans at Bellagio seemed far from approving her conduct. American
ladies of a very different class, who were staying at the hotel, held
aloof from her, and treated her with marked coldness whenever they met;
declaring that her manners would be as objectionable in her own country,
in good society, as they were in Italy.

But Miss Sparks was not to be put down by any argument. "Bah! they are
stuck-up Bostonians. And do you know, Jacqueline, you are getting very
tiresome? You were faster yourself than I when we were the Blue Band at
Treport."

Nora's admirers, sometimes encouraged, sometimes snubbed, when treated
cavalierly by this young lady, would occasionally pay court to the
'demoiselle de compagnie', wh