It is needless to say that Rico did not go to Riva that day. The situation was immediately explained to the hotel people, so that they could hire a substitute to play for the dance. How glad Rico was to be excused they could scarcely imagine.
The landlady received the information with the greatest astonishment. She hastily called her husband and told him the news. Later she congratulated Rico and said to him that she heartily wished for God's blessing upon his home. Not in the least did she begrudge him his good fortune. She had really grown very fond of him, and her pleasure was genuine. For some time the people of the hotel Three Crosses had been making Rico liberal offers to come to live with them, and she was relieved that now this could not happen. Her husband was glad for Rico, because he had known the father well; he wondered now that he had never noticed the striking resemblance between father and son.
Rico left word to have his belongings sent over to his house the next day, and then bade them a friendly farewell.
"We want you to give us your orders for all the entertaining you may do in the future," the landlady said, as he was about to leave. Rico thanked them in his usual quiet fashion and departed.
Before night nearly all Peschiera had heard of Rico's good fortune. He was a favorite in town, and the news caused much rejoicing.
Mrs. Menotti spared no pains to make Rico comfortable in his new home. The large front room upstairs was prepared for his special use. After everything had been arranged to her satisfaction, she went to gather some flowers as a finishing touch, and she had just placed them on the table when she heard Rico coming.
"Mrs. Menotti has your room ready, and she is upstairs," said Stineli. "Won't you go up to see it now?"
Rico expected to see a pleasant room, but he was not prepared to find the artistic effect which held him spellbound as he reached the threshold. Mrs. Menotti understood his nature so well that she knew what he would like, and she had arranged every detail herself. She met him at the door, and taking his hand, led him to the windows overlooking the lake. Rico wished to express his gratitude, but he could only murmur, "I am so glad to be at home."
In the sitting room downstairs, where the doors opened so pleasantly into the garden, the family, after Rico had come to stay, spent the most delightful evenings imaginable. Ten o'clock no longer brought sadness to the happy circle, and the months slipped by quite unheeded.
Rico was now supposed to manage his business, and he usually spent the days in the field and garden with his foreman. The first day they were out together the foreman thought, "I know more than my master," but that evening, when the soul-inspiring strains of the violin and voice came floating out to him across the garden, he thought, "My master does know more than I"; and thereafter he had a profound respect for Rico.