The Swede recognized the meaning of this; she looked at him quickly with parted lips and her hand extended. She was ready to spring from the phaeton.
"Do be quiet!" said Dennison. Then he spoke to the girl in Italian, quieting her dread.
They reached the station in safety, and soon after sunrise the Northerner, her breath still hurried, her hands cold, was placed in the care of the official who had charge of the Florence train. Dennison gave her his white silk handkerchief to tie over her uncovered head. The daylight had revealed the discolored lines of the bruise on her cheek produced by Modesta's blow. "Poor thing!" said Gray, as the train started on its way, and they had a last glimpse of her frightened eyes at the window.
"Yes. But she will get over it in time—she is strong and healthy. I have telegraphed to the consul at Florence to meet her, and take every care of her; he is to give her money from me, and then he is to send her to Stockholm, comfortably, in the charge of a suitable person. When she arrives there she will find a tidy little sum to her credit at a banker's."
"You're paying well for her scare."
"I'm paying well for my comfort."
They took fresh horses and returned to Casa Colombina.
As the Tower of the Dove came into sight on its hill, Gray said: "She won't be there, will she—I mean at the house?"
"Oh yes."
"What will she do when she sees us?"