"That must go in the safe," he ended; "it is well to have a slight
grasp on those gentlemen."
He rose; and a few minutes later Lavinia saw his trim brown launch,
with its awning and steersman in gleaming white, rushing through the
bay toward Naples.
VI
The basin from which the launch plied lay inside a seawall inclosing a
small placid rectangle with a walk all about and iron benches. Steps at
the back, guarded by two great Pompeian sandstone urns, and pressed by
a luxuriant growth, led up to the villa. Gheta looked curiously about
as she stepped from the launch and went forward with her brother-in-
law. Lavinia followed, with Gheta's maid and a porter in the rear.
Lavinia realized that her sister looked badly; in the unsparing blaze
of midday the wrinkles about her eyes were apparent, and they had
multiplied. Although it was past the first of June, Gheta was wearing a
linen suit of last year; and--as her maid unpacked--Lavinia saw the
familiar pink tulle and the lavender gown with the gold velvet buttons.
"Your dressmaker is very late," she observed thoughtlessly.
A slow flush spread over the other's countenance; she did not reply
immediately and Lavinia would have given a great deal to unsay her
period.
"It isn't that," Gheta finally explained; "the family find that I am
too expensive. You see, I haven't justified their hopes and they have
been cutting down."
Her voice was thin, metallic; her features had sharpened like folded
paper creased between the fingers.
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