The banker had his astute doubts of Paolo's intelligence; the banker in Europe doubts all news not originating in his house; but after a day or two the advertisements in the newspapers carried conviction even to the banker.
When Colville went to the ladies with news of the veglione, he found that they had already heard of it. "Should you like to go?" he asked Mrs. Bowen.
"I don't know. What do you think?" she asked in turn.
"Oh, it's for you to do the thinking. I only know what I want."
Imogene said nothing, while she watched the internal debate as it expressed itself in Mrs. Bowen's face.
"People go in boxes," she said thoughtfully; "but you would feel that a box wasn't the same thing exactly?"
"We went on the floor," suggested Colville.
"It was very different then. And, besides, Mrs. Finlay had absolutely no sense of propriety." When a woman has explicitly condemned a given action, she apparently gathers courage for its commission under a little different conditions. "Of course, if we went upon the floor, I shouldn't wish it to be known at all, though foreigners can do almost anything they like."
"Really," said Colville, "when it comes to that, I don't see any harm in it."
"And you say go?"