lf?" she laughed.

"Well," he said, with a little nod, and a furtive look of triumph
about him, evasive. He went past her and into the room. Her inside
burned with love for him: so elusive, so beautiful, in his silent
passing out of her sight. She wiped her dishes happily. Why was she
so absurdly happy, she asked herself? And why did she still fight so
hard against the sense of his dark, unseizable beauty? Unseizable,
for ever unseizable! That made her almost his slave. She fought
against her own desire to fall at his feet. Ridiculous to be so
happy.

She sang to herself as she went about her work downstairs. Then she
went upstairs, to do the bedrooms and pack her bag. At ten o'clock
she was to go to the family lawyer.

She lingered over her possessions: what to take, and what not to
take. And so doing she wasted her time. It was already ten o'clock
when she hurried downstairs. He was sitting quite still, waiting. He
looked up at her.

"Now I must hurry," she said. "I don't think I shall be more than an
hour."

He put on his hat and went out with her.

"I shall tell the lawyer I am engaged to you. Shall I?" she asked.

"Yes," he said. "Tell him what you like." He was indifferent.

"Because," said Alvina gaily, "we can please ourselves what we do,
whatever we say. I shall say we think of getting married in the
summer, when we know each other better, and going to Italy."

"Why shall you say all that?" said Ciccio.

"Because I shall _have_ to give some account of myself, or they'll
make me do something I don't want to do. You might come to the
lawyer's with me, will you? He's an awfully nice old man. Then he'd
believe in you."

But Ciccio shook his head.

"No," he said. "I shan't go. He doesn't want to see _me_."

"Well, if you don't want to. But I remember your name, Francesco
Marasca, and I remember Pescocalascio."

Ciccio heard in silence, as they walked the half-empty,
Monday-morning street of Woodhouse. People kept nodding to Alvina.
Some hurried inquisitively across to speak to her and look at
Ciccio. Ciccio however stood aside and turned his back.

"Oh yes," Alvina said. "I am staying with friends, here and there,
for a few weeks. No, I don't know when I shall be back. Good-bye!"

"You're looking well, Alvina," people said to her. "I think you're
looking wonderful. A change does you good."

"It does, doesn't it," said Alvina brightly. And she was pleased she
was looking well.

"Well, good-by