She did not finish her sentence; for the car, which had been heading towards the left, swerved suddenly to the right with such violence that Irene had to clutch at the arm of her seat to prevent herself from being thrown sideways bodily out of the machine. “Goodness!”
“It’s all right,” said Lord Hovenden. They were running smoothly now along the right-hand road. Ten minutes later, from the crest of a little pass, they saw Perugia on its mountain, glittering in the sunlight. They found, when they reached the hotel, that the rest of the party had long since arrived.
“We took ve wrong turning,” Lord Hovenden explained. “By ve way,” he added, turning to Mr. Cardan, “about vat lake we passed—wasn’t it Hannibal or some one….”
“Such a lot of lakes,” Miss Elver was telling Mrs. Chelifer. “Such a lot!”
“Only one, surely, my dear,” Mrs. Chelifer mildly insisted.
But Miss Elver wouldn’t hear of it. “Lots and lots.”
Mrs. Chelifer sighed compassionately.
Before dinner Irene and Lord Hovenden went for a stroll in the town. The huge stone palaces lowered down at them as they passed. The sun was so low that only their highest windows, their roofs and cornices took the light. The world’s grey shadow was creeping up their flanks; but their crests were tipped with coral and ruddy gold.
“I like vis place,” said Lord Hovenden. In the circumstances he would have liked Wigan or Pittsburg.
“So do I,” said Irene. Through the window in her thick hair her face looked smiling out, merry in its childishness.