her with a charming air of ignorance as to
the errand on which she comes. Half an hour passes in diplomatic fence,
in chat over the weather, the crops, or the price of macaroni, till at a
given signal the girl herself leaves the room, and the "ambassadress"
breaks out in praise of her good looks, her industry, and her good
repute. The parents retort by praise of the young fisherman, compliments
pass quickly into business, and a vow of eternal friendship between the
families is sworn over a bottle of rosolio. The priest is soon called in
and the lovers are formally betrothed for six months, a ceremony which
was followed in times past by a new appearance of the ambassadress with
the customary offering of trinkets from the lover to his promised
spouse. This old Caprese custom has disappeared, but the girls still
pride themselves on the number and value of their ornaments--the
"spadella," or stiletto which binds the elaborately braided mass of
their ebon hair; the circular gold earrings with inner circles of
pearls; the gold chain or lacetta, worn fold upon fold round the neck;
the bunch of gold talismans suspended on the breast; the profusion of
heavy silver rings which load every finger. The Sunday after her
betrothal when she appears at High Mass in all her finery is the
proudest day of a Capri girl's life; but love has few of the tenderer
incidents which make its poetry in the North. There is no "lover's lane"
in Capri, for a maiden may not walk with her betrothed save in presence
of witnesses; and a kiss before marriage is, as "Auld Robin Gray" calls
it, "a sin" to which no modest girl stoops. The future husband is in
fact busy with less romantic matters; it is his business to provide bed
and bedding, table and chairs, drawers and looking-glass, and above all
a dozen gaudy prints from Naples of the Madonna and the favourite saints
of the day. The bride provides the rest, and on the eve of the marriage
the families meet once more to take an inventory of her contributions
which remain her own property till her death. The morning's sun streams
in upon the lovers as they kneel at the close of mass before the priest
in San Stefano; all the boyhood of Capri is waiting outside to pelt the
bridal train with "confetti" as it hurries amidst blushes and laughter
across the Piazza; a dinner of macaroni and the island wine ends in a
universal "tarantella," there is a final walk round the village at the
close of the dance, and the cor