"Doesn't that sound maddening?"
"It does, indeed," I agreed. "Whose is it?"
"I don't know," said Jill absently, staring into the distance. "But I can just see it all. Fancy living there, and going out before breakfast over the lawns to bathe…"
Idly I took the paper out of her hand.
From this it appeared that the property had belonged to the Duke of
Padua. Reading further, I found that the latter's whole estate had,
upon his death nine months ago, become the subject of an action at law.
The deceased's legitimacy, it seemed, had been called in question.
To-day the Appeal Court of Italy was to declare the true heir….
As I laid down the sheet—
"Somebody," I said, "will drink champagne to-night."
"Oranges and lemons," murmured Jill. "Cascades…."
A vicious grunt from below and behind suggested that my brother-in-law was standing no nonsense.
I settled myself in my corner of the car, tilted my hat over my nose, and closed my eyes….