“Now, Allegra,” said her brother, emptying the ashes out of his pipe, “are you ready to go home?”
“Yes, I have just jotted down what will serve to remind me of those splendid beasts; but I should like to have them standing there all day, so that I could paint them seriously. They are the finest models I have seen in Rome. Have you two quite finished your secrets and mysteries?” she asked, smiling at Isola, who was looking brighter than usual.
“Yes; I have said all I had to say, and have been answered as I wished to be answered. I shall go home very happy.”
“That’s a good hearing,” said Disney, as he helped her into the landau.
Allegra had talked of wanting to revisit Caracalla’s Baths, a wish of which Isola reminded her as they drove back to the city, along the Appian Way: whereupon Captain Hulbert suggested that he and his sweetheart should stop to explore the ruins, while Disney and Isola went home.
Allegra blushed and consented, always a little shy at being alone with her lover, especially since he had pleaded so earnestly for a summer honeymoon.
“Mrs. Disney, your right place in Rome would be the Embassy,” murmured Hulbert as he shut the carriage door; “you are a born diplomatist.”
“What makes my dearest look so pleased and happy this afternoon?” asked Disney, as he changed to the seat beside his wife.
“I am glad because I think Captain Hulbert will persuade Allegra to marry him before we leave Rome. I begged him to hasten their marriage. That was my mystery, Martin. That was what he and I were talking about.”
“But why wish to hasten matters, dear? They are very happy as it is—and a year is not a long engagement.”