hought it
was a toss of the head.

"Everybody in Italy can paint. It is as common--as common as
lizards! There are dozens of people in Lucca who can paint--a whole
villa--ceilings, walls--what you like. Nobody thinks anything at all
about them. But Italian girls are very clever also! There were two girls
in Lucca--Marchesine--the best family in Lucca. They got all the prizes
at the Liceo, and then they went to Pisa to the University; and one of
them was a Doctor of Law; and when they came home, all the street in
which they lived and their _palazzo_ were lit up. And they were very
pretty too!"

"And you--did you go to the Liceo, Felicia?"

"No! I had never any education--none, none, _none_! But I could get it,
if I wanted," said the voice, defiantly.

"Of course you could. I have asked your mother to stay with us till
Christmas. You might get some lessons in Carlisle. We could send you in."

Felicia, however, made no response to this at all, and Victoria felt that
her proposal had fallen flat. But, after a minute or two, she heard:

"I should like--to learn--to _ride_!"

Much emphasis on the last word; accompanied by nodding of the fantastic
little head.

"Well, we shall see!" laughed Victoria, indulgently.

"And then--I would go out--with Lord Tatham!" said Felicia. "Oh, but he
is too _divine_ on horseback! There were some Italian cavalry officers at
Lucca. I used to run to the window every time to see them pass by. But he
is nobler--he is handsomer!"

Victoria, taken by surprise, wondered if it would not be well to
administer a little snubbing to compliments so unabashed. She tried. But
Felicia interrupted her:

"Do you not admire him--your son?" she said eagerly, slipping up close to
Victoria. "Can he jump and swim rivers--on his horse--and come down
mountains--on his haunches--like our _cavalleria_? I am certain he can!"

"He can do most things on a horse. When the hunting begins, you will
see," said Victoria, smiling in spite of herself.

"Tell me, please, what is the hunting? And about the shooting, too. Lord
Tatham told me--this afternoon--some ladies shoot. Oh, but I will learn
to shoot! I swear it--yes! Now tell me!"

Thus attacked, the formidable Victoria capitulated. She was soon in the
midst of stories of her Harry, from his first pony upward. And she had
not gone far before a tiny hand slipped itself into hers and nestled
there; moving and quivering occasionally, like a wild bird voluntarily