‘If she at all resembles the statue which you are portraying, it is not to be wondered at, this fraternal devotion.’
‘Maud is very charming,’ said Mr. Meredith; ‘as you will see for yourself some day.’
‘And you will find that Philip is just as pleasant in his way, when you do meet him,’ continued Roma. ‘You must not mind English ways when you come to England, Signor. They are more blunt, perhaps; but I think an Englishman’s word is worth its weight in gold!’
The Signor smiled pleasantly.
‘My friend Philip Debenham is fortunate in having such a champion.’
Mr. Meredith laughed, and Roma blushed suddenly and vividly.
‘We allow our daughters more liberty of speech and action than do your countrymen, Signor. Roma has been brought up à l’Anglaise; and then my daughter has the right to defend her friend.’
The Signor bowed and smiled, and Roma blushed still more vividly. She thought it bad taste on her father’s part to give so broad a hint to a perfect stranger, upon private family affairs.
Signor Pagliadini seemed to divine her confusion without looking at her, and turned the conversation into new channels. He was certainly a fascinating talker. Roma listened to him with more pleasure than she had experienced for many a long day.
The soft language of her childhood was like music to her ear, and she listened to the stories of her native land, and the cities in which her happy early youth had been passed, with undivided attention.