When Courtlandt knocked at the door and was admitted, he apologized. “I came back for my umbrella.”
“Umbrella!” exclaimed the padre. “Why, we had no umbrellas. We came up in a carriage which is probably waiting for us this very minute by the porter’s lodge.”
“Well, I am certainly absent-minded!”
“Absent-minded!” scoffed Abbott. “You never forgot anything in all your life, unless it was to go to bed. You wanted an excuse to come back.”
“Any excuse would be a good one in that case. I think we’d better be going, Padre. And by the way, Herr Rosen begged me to present his regrets. He is leaving Bellaggio in the morning.”
Nora turned her face once more to the window.