"I had not thought of that." Mr. Selwyn rose and began pacing to and fro. "How soon will Mary be equal to the trip, Frank?"
"Not before the first of June at the earliest. Her recovery, judging from the past two weeks, will be very, very slow. Why do you take this trip just now? Can't you put it off for six or seven months?"
"No, Frank, that is not possible. We have been waiting for this chance to open a branch of the business in Rome, and now that it has come, we must act promptly."
"Then let Bryce or Ryan go. Bryce has no one but himself to think of."
"His father would have been just the man to put the thing through; but young Bryce is not his father by any means. For one thing, he does not know the business well enough. Ryan says that he is too old to begin to learn Italian; and as I have a fair knowledge of that language, he thinks I should go. I made no objection, because I thought it would be a splendid chance to take Mary away from the winter here. Do you really think that it would be a risk, Frank?"
"So great a risk that I am almost sure you would have a burial at sea."
"Frank!"
"I mean it, Rob. A mere trifle would bring on a relapse; and a long sea voyage is no trifle."
"But what are we to do? Elizabeth will never consent to my living in Italy for a year unless she and the children can be with me."
"She is right about that. Her place is with you."