he two were living there in great secrecy, as they were in fear of their
lives, not alone from the young lady's relatives, but from her discarded
lover, the Marchese di Capella, father of the present Mr. Giovanni
Capella, who has dropped his title in England. The old woman, Maria
Bresciano, attended the signorina and her child, but unfortunately the
mother died, and her death is registered both by the civil authorities in
the Minadoi section here" (lifting a small house bodily off the map), "and
by the ecclesiastical here" (he touched another spire).

"The affair created some stir in the Naples of that day, but Beechcroft's
suffering, the calm daring with which, after the girl's death, he defied
those who had vowed vengeance on him, and the generally passionate nature
of the attachment between the two, created much public sympathy for him.
Among others who were attracted to him were a Mr. and Mrs. Somers, and
their daughter, then resident in Naples. Oddly enough, Beechcroft did not
content himself with securing efficient care for his child, but brought
the infant to the Hotel de Londres--you note the coincidence--where it was
nurtured under his personal supervision."

Brett drew a long breath. So this was Margaret's secret and Capella's
vengeance! He was aroused, as from a dream, by Mr. Holden's steady voice.

"Mr. Beechcroft always held that the Signorina di Orvieto was his true
wife in the eyes of Heaven, for their marriage was only prevented by a
most uncalled-for and unnatural threat of incurring her father's dying
curse it she dared to wed a Protestant. Eighteen months after her death he
married Miss Somers at the British Consulate, and revealed his real name
and rank--Sir Alan Hume-Frazer, baronet, of Beechcroft, near Stowmarket,
England. His lady adopted the infant girl as her own, and local gossip had
it that this was a part of the marriage contract, whilst the ceremony took
place at an early date to give colour to the kindly pretence. The pair
lived in a distant suburb, at Donzelle here" (another church fixed the
spot), "and in twelve months a boy was born, birth registered locally and
in the British Consulate. After four more years' residence in Naples, Sir
Alan and Lady Hume-Frazer left Italy with their two children. Mr. Capella
found two of their old servants, Giuseppe Conti and Lola Rintesano, living
in these small houses here and here" (the remaining houses were lifted
into prominence).

"Mr. Capella mar