o damn it as quaint.

Meanwhile Philip talked continually, thinking this to be great evidence
of resource and tact. It showed Miss Abbott that he had probed her to
the bottom, but was able to conquer his disgust, and by sheer force of
intellect continue to be as agreeable and amusing as ever. He did not
know that he talked a good deal of nonsense, and that the sheer force
of his intellect was weakened by the sight of Monteriano, and by the
thought of dentistry within those walls.

The town above them swung to the left, to the right, to the left again,
as the road wound upward through the trees, and the towers began to glow
in the descending sun. As they drew near, Philip saw the heads of people
gathering black upon the walls, and he knew well what was happening--how
the news was spreading that a stranger was in sight, and the beggars
were aroused from their content and bid to adjust their deformities; how
the alabaster man was running for his wares, and the Authorized Guide
running for his peaked cap and his two cards of recommendation--one from
Miss M'Gee, Maida Vale, the other, less valuable, from an Equerry to the
Queen of Peru; how some one else was running to tell the landlady of the
Stella d'Italia to put on her pearl necklace and brown boots and empty
the slops from the spare bedroom; and how the landlady was running to
tell Lilia and her boy that their fate was at hand.

Perhaps it was a pity Philip had talked so profusely. He had driven
Miss Abbott half demented, but he had given himself no time to concert
a plan. The end came so suddenly. They emerged from the trees on to the
terrace before the walk, with the vision of half Tuscany radiant in the
sun behind them, and then they turned in through the Siena gate, and
their journey was over. The Dogana men admitted them with an air of
gracious welcome, and they clattered up the narrow dark street, greeted
by that mixture of curiosity and kindness which makes each Italian
arrival so wonderful.

He was stunned and knew not what to do. At the hotel he received no
ordinary reception. The landlady wrung him by the hand; one person
snatched his umbrella, another his bag; people pushed each other out of
his way. The entrance seemed blocked with a crowd. Dogs were barking,
bladder whistles being blown, women waving their handkerchiefs, excited
children screaming on the stairs, and at the top of the stairs was Lilia
herself, very radiant, with her best blouse on.

"We