Notwithstanding that, Jean Bruce sat exactly opposite, with her eyes closed showing the length of her dark lashes against the clear pallor of her cheeks, Jean was not devoting all her energies to reflecting upon the historic curiosities of ancient Rome. She wanted to see everything of importance, of course, but she was also wondering if the Princess Colonna would keep the promise made in their farewells on the steamship. Would she call on them in Rome and afterwards invite them to meet her friends? The invitation might possibly be to an afternoon tea; yet even then there was a chance of meeting some member of the Italian nobility or other prominent person. And Jean did not think herself a snob because she wanted to meet big people as well as to see big things. Always they had led such a quiet life at the ranch, and boarding school had offered but few opportunities for making outside friends. Indeed, her only other chances for mingling with the world had been their summer trip through the Yellowstone and her week's visit to Margaret Belknap during the Christmas holidays at Primrose Hall. So Jean's social aspirations were possibly not unreasonable.
And, curiously enough, Olive Van Mater, for at least a portion of their pilgrimage to Rome, was considering certain friends whom she might possibly meet there, instead of the marvels of the city itself. For she was expecting that her cousins, Mrs. Harmon, Donald and Elizabeth, might make their appearance. And although Olive was fond of all three of them, she could not look forward to their meeting with pleasure. The truth is that Olive's grandmother, as we must know from the past volume in this series, was a self-willed, unwise old woman. No sooner had she seen Olive and Donald together half a dozen times and noticed the young fellow's liking for her granddaughter, than she had made up her mind the way she intended to escape her own difficulty. Why puzzle to decide whether she should leave her large fortune to the Harmons, as she had so long promised, or give it to the newly found granddaughter?
"Let the two young persons marry and share the money between them. Elizabeth could be comforted with a reasonable legacy." This decision Madame Van Mater had confided to Miss Winthrop almost as soon as the idea had come into her head. And then, in spite of Miss Winthrop's openly expressed disapproval, after Olive's return from the ranch for her second winter at Primrose Hall, her grandmother had made known her wishes to her.
"So that you may not get any other love nonsense into your head," Madame Van Mater explained to Olive, as though there could be no possibility of her desire being disobeyed. And this in spite of the fact that Olive had insisted that Donald could never care for her or she for him, and that nothing would induce her to follow her grandmother's wishes. Indeed, except for Miss Winthrop, Olive might have been made extremely unhappy. But her friend had explained that Madame Van Mater was growing childish with age and would probably change her mind in regard to the willing of her wealth many times before her death. Also she assured her that Madame Van Mater had never mentioned her purpose to Donald Harmon, and if Miss Winthrop could influence her, never should. Nevertheless Olive's peace of mind and pleasure in her cousin's society had been successfully destroyed by her grandmother's suggestion. Actually the girl lived in a kind of shy dread of Don's ever finding it out or attempting to follow Madame Van Mater's wishes. She had always protested that the greater share of the family fortunes should be left to the Harmons. She herself would be content with very little and wanted no special favors, since her grandmother had never brought herself to care for her. Notwithstanding this, the old lady had seen that her granddaughter had an even larger sum than the three Ranch girls for her traveling expenses in Europe. And had said that she was to buy whatever she liked and to send for more money whenever it was necessary.
Yet Ruth and the girls were traveling in a far more expensive fashion and spending more money than they ever had before. For, in spite of the discovery of the Rainbow mine, they had continued to live simply. Nevertheless, in starting off on their European trip, Jim had advised them to have a good time and not to worry, as he guessed the gold mine could do the rest.
So that Jack in the course of her journey from Naples rather wondered if Captain Madden had not received a wrong impression of the amount of their wealth. Or possibly Frank Kent had told him. In any case it was annoying for Frank to have mentioned their financial affairs to so complete a stranger as Captain Madden had then been. Jack was glad she had written asking Frank not to join them in Italy. Two years might have made a great change in his character, so that they could not be friends as they had once been. Besides, had she not guessed, without actually having been told, that Captain Madden and Frank, in spite of being cousins, were not particularly good friends? And as Captain Madden had mentioned that there was a bare chance of his spending the spring in Rome it might be awkward meeting them together. Of course Jack had not spoken of the chance of running across Captain Madden in Rome to any of her family. In the first place, Captain Madden had been by no means sure of his presence there, and in the second, Jack had the impression that Jean, Olive and Frieda did not like him. This was absurd, of course, with a man so much older! As he had traveled and spent other seasons in Rome, surely he would be an agreeable guide and help them to see the right things in the right way?
Only Frieda, besides Ruth, was not looking forward with either pleasure or dread to any persons whom she might happen to run across in Rome. Certainly Dick Grant and his mother were to be there (Dick had told her every detail of their plans in the course of their early acquaintance), but whether they were in Rome or not was of no interest to Frieda. For the younger Miss Ralston had been true to her decision and not once in the two-day-and-a-half sail from Gibraltar to Naples had she acknowledged the existence of either Mrs. Grant or her son. And this in spite of their humble apologies to Jack, and her sister's ready acceptance of them.
However, this much justice must be accorded the Ranch girls that when, at sunset, they at last entered "the eternal city" all personal thoughts and considerations were swept from their minds. High in the distance they could see the tower of St. Peter's; in the midst of the town ran the muddy stream of the Tiber; and over all Rome's beauty and antiquity hovered the golden atmosphere for which the city is also justly famous.