‘You might have asked my permission.’
‘Oh, well, Jerry’s a dear; next to Harry you couldn’t find any one nicer. But I knew the only way was not to let him suspect. I thought, you see, that you were still staying at the hotel; I didn’t know you’d taken a villa, so I planned for him to come to meet us three days before we really expected to get here. I thought in the meantime, being stranded together in a little hotel, you’d surely get acquainted—Jerry’s very resourceful that way—and with all this beautiful Italian scenery about, and nothing to do——’
‘I see!’ Constance’s tone was somewhat dry.
‘But nothing happened as I had planned. You weren’t here, he was bored to death, and I was detained longer than I meant. We got the most pathetic letter from him the second day, saying there was no one but the head waiter to talk to, nothing but an india-rubber tree to look at, and if we didn’t come immediately, he’d do the Dolomites without us. Then finally, just as we were on the point of leaving, he sent a telegram saying: “Don’t come. Am climbing mountains. Stay there till you hear from me.” But being already packed, we came, and this is what we find——’ She waved her hand over the empty grove.
‘It serves you right; you shouldn’t deceive people.’
‘It was for Jerry’s good—and yours too. But what shall we do? He doesn’t know we’re here and he has left no address.’
‘Come out to the villa and visit us till he comes to search for you.’
Constance could hear her aunt delivering the same invitation to Mrs. Eustace, and she perforce repeated it, though with the inward hope that it would be declined. She had no wish that Tony and her father should return from their trip to find a family party assembled on the terrace. The adventure was not to end with any such tame climax as that. To her relief they did decline, at least for the night; they could make no definite plans until they had heard from Jerry. Constance rose upon this assurance and precipitated their leave-takings; she did not wish her aunt to press them to change their minds.
‘Good-bye, Mrs. Eustace, good-bye, Nannie; we’ll be around to-night to take you sailing—provided there’s any breeze.’
She nodded and dragged her aunt off; but as they were entering the arbour a plan for further complicating matters popped into her head, and she turned back to call—