Courtlandt turned on his heel and hurried back to the villa. He did not

look over his shoulder. If he had, he might have felt pity for the young

man who leaned heavily against the gate, his burning face pressed upon his

rain-soaked sleeve.

When Courtlandt knocked at the door and was admitted, he apologized. "I

came back for my umbrella."

"Umbrella!" exclaimed the padre. "Why, we had no umbrellas. We came up in

a carriage which is probably waiting for us this very minute by the

porter's lodge."

"Well, I am certainly absent-minded!"

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"Absent-minded!" scoffed Abbott. "You never forgot anything in all your

life, unless it was to go to bed. You wanted an excuse to come back."

"Any excuse would be a good one in that case. I think we'd better be

going, Padre. And by the way, Herr Rosen begged me to present his regrets.

He is leaving Bellaggio in the morning."

Nora turned her face once more to the window.




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