s to go and see the Minister, who had of late
been very friendly to him; everything might be settled in half an hour,
and next week he would be on his way to China, or South America, or East
Africa, which would be perfectly satisfactory to everybody concerned.

It was a wise and honourable resolution, and he determined to act on it
at once. His hand was on the door to go out, when he stopped suddenly
and stood quite still for a few seconds. It was as if something unseen
surrounded him on all sides, in the air, invisible but solid as lead,
making it impossible for him to move. It did not last long, and he went
out, wondering at his nervousness.

In half an hour he was in the presence of the Minister, who was speaking
to him.

"You are promoted to the rank of lieutenant-commander. You are
temporarily attached to the ministerial commission which is to study the
Somali question, which you understand so well from experience on the
spot. His Majesty specially desires it."

"How long may this last, sir?" enquired Lamberti, with a look of blank
disappointment.

"Oh, a year or two, I should say," laughed the Minister. "They do not
hurry themselves. You can enjoy a long holiday at home."

CHAPTER XI

Though it was late in the season, everybody wished to do something to
welcome the appearance of Cecilia Palladio in society. It was too warm
to give balls, but it did not follow that it was at all too hot to dance
informally, with the windows open. We do not know why a ball is hotter
than a dance; but it is so. There are things that men do not understand.

So dinners were given, to which young people were asked, and afterwards
an artistic-looking man appeared from somewhere and played waltzes, and
twenty or thirty couples amused themselves to their hearts' delight till
one o'clock in the morning. Moreover, people who had villas gave
afternoon teas, without any pretence of giving garden parties, and there
also the young ones danced, sometimes on marble pavements in great old
rooms that smelt slightly of musty furniture, but were cool and
pleasant. Besides these things, there were picnic dinners at Frascati
and Castel Gandolfo, and everybody drove home across the Campagna by
moonlight. Altogether, and chiefly in Cecilia Palladio's honour, there
was a very pretty little revival of winter gaiety, which is not always
very gay in Rome, nowadays.

The young girl accepted it all much more grac