holding her wire mask as a protection to her
face from the showers of lime confetti, which
otherwise would have been enough to blind her!
Mrs. Forbes had her own hired balcony as became
a wealthy and respectable Englishwoman.
The girls had a great basket full of bouquets
with which to pelt their friends in the crowd
below; a store of moccoletti lay piled on the
table behind, for it was the last day of Carnival,
and as soon as dusk came on the tapers were to
be lighted, to be as quickly extinguished by every
means in every one's power. The crowd below
was at its wildest pitch; the rows of stately
contadine alone sitting unmovable as their
possible ancestors, the senators who received
Brennus and his Gauls. Masks and white
dominoes, foreign gentlemen, and the riffraff of
the city, slow-driving carriages, showers of
flowers, most of them faded by this time,
every one shouting and struggling at that
wild pitch of excitement which may so soon
turn into fury; the Forbes girls had given
place at the window to their mother and Ellinor,
who were gazing half amused, half terrified
at the mad parti-coloured movement below;
when a familiar face looked up, smiling a recognition;
and " How shall I get to you?" was asked
in English, by the well-known voice of Canon
Livingstone. They saw him disappear under
the balcony on which they were standing, but it
was some time before he made his appearance in
their room. And when he did, he was almost
overpowered with greetings; so glad were they
to see an East Chester face.

"When did you come? Where are you?
What a pity you did not come sooner? It is
so long since we have heard anything; do tell us
everything? It is three weeks since we have had
any letters; those tiresome boats have been so
irregular because of the weather? How was
everybody—Miss Monro in particular, Ellinor says?"

He, quietly smiling, replied to their questions
by slow degrees. He had only arrived the night
before, and had been hunting for them all day;
but no one could give him any distinct intelligence
as to their whereabouts in all the noise
and confusion of the place, especially as they
had their only English servant with them, and
the canon was not strong in his Italian. He
was not sorry he had missed all but this last
day of Carnival, for he was half blinded, and
wholly deafened as it was. He was at the
"Angleterre;" he had left East Chester about
a week ago; he had letters for all of them, but
had not dared to bring them through the crowd
for fear of having his pocket picked. Miss
Monro was very well, but very uneasy at not
having heard from Ellinor for so long; the
irregularity of the boats must be telling both
ways, for their English friends were full of
wonder at not hearing from Rome. And then
followed some well-deserved abuse of the Roman
post, and some suspicion of the carefulness with
which Italian servants posted English letters.
All these answers were satisfactory enough, yet
Mrs. Forbes thought she saw a latent uneasiness
in Canon Livingstone's manner; and fancied
once or twice that he hesitated in replying to
Ellinor's questions. But there was no being
quite sure in the increasing darkness, which
prevented countenances from being seen; nor
in the constant interruptions and screams which
were going on in the small crowded room, as
wafting handkerchiefs, puffs of wind, or veritable
extinguishers, fastened to long sticks, and
coming from nobody knew where, put out taper
after taper as fast as they were lighted.

"You will come home with us," said Mrs.
Forbes. " I can only offer you cold meat with
tea; our cook is gone out, this being an
universal festa; but we cannot part with an old
friend for any scruples as to the commissariat."

"Thank you. I should have invited myself, if
you had not been good enough to ask me."

When they had all arrived at their apartment
in the Babuino (Canon Livingstone had gone
round to fetch the letters with which he was
entrusted), Mrs. Forbes was confirmed in her
supposition that he had something particular
and not very pleasant to say to Ellinor, by the
rather grave and absent manner in which he
awaited her return from taking off her out-of-door
things. He broke off, indeed, in his conversation
with Mrs. Forbes to go and meet
Ellinor, and to lead her into the most distant
window before he delivered her letters.

"From what you said in the balcony yonder,
I fear you have not received your home letters
regularly?"

"No!" replied she, startled and trembling,
she hardly knew why.

"No more has Miss Monro heard from you;
nor, I believe, has some one else who expected to
hear. Your man of business—I forget his name."

"My man of business! Something has gone
wrong, Mr. Livingstone. Tell me—I want to
know. I have been expecting it—only tell me."
She sat down suddenly, as white as ashes.

"Dear Miss Wilkins, I'm afraid it is painful
enough, but you are fancying it worse than it
is. All your friends are quite well; but an old
servant——"

"Well!" she said, seeing his hesitation, and
leaning forwards and gripping at his arm.

"Is taken up on a charge of manslaughter or
murder.—Oh! Mrs. Forbes, come here!"

For Ellinor had fainted, falling forwards on
the arm she had held. When she came round
she was lying half-undressed on her bed; they
were giving her tea in spoonfuls.

"I must get up," she moaned. "I must go
home."

"You must lie still," said Mrs. Forbes, firmly.

"You don't know. I must go home," she
repeated; and she tried to sit up, but fell back
helpless. Then she did not speak, but lay and
thought. "Will you bring me some meat?"
she whispered. "And some wine?" They
brought her meat and wine; she ate, though she
was choking. "Now, please bring me my letters,
and leave me alone; and after that I
should like to speak to Canon Livingstone.
Don't let him go, please. I won't be long—
half an hour, I think. Only let me be alone."