[Illustration: "'SIR,' SAID THE LADY IN ITALIAN, 'I NEED A POSTILLION.'"--_Page 2_.] Clementina By A.E.W. Mason Author of "The Courtship of Morrice Buckler" "Parson Kelly" etc. Illustrated by Bernard Partridge New York Frederick A. Stokes Company Publishers 1901 THIRD EDITION UNIVERSITY PRESS JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A. THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO ANDREW LANG, ESQ. AS A TOKEN OF MUCH FRIENDSHIP CONTENTS CHAPTER I. A CHANCE MEETING II. BAD NEWS III. WOGAN MAKES A PROPOSAL IV. SHOWS THAT THERE ARE BETTER HIDING-PLACES THAN A WINDOW-CURTAIN V. SHOWS THAT A DISHONEST LANDLORD SHOULD AVOID WHITE PAINT VI. WOGAN CONTINUES HIS JOURNEY VII. WOGAN IS MISTAKEN FOR A MORE NOTABLE MAN VIII. AT SCHLESTADT IX. GAYDON MINDS HIS OWN BUSINESS X. A MONTH OF WAITING XI. THE PRINCE OF BADEN VISITS CLEMENTINA XII. THE NIGHT OF THE 27TH. IN THE STREETS OF INNSPRUCK XIII. THE NIGHT OF THE 27TH. IN CLEMENTINA'S APARTMENTS XIV. THE ESCAPE XV. THE FLIGHT TO ITALY: WOGAN'S CITY OF DREAMS XVI. THE FLIGHT TO ITALY: THE POTENT EFFECTS OF A WATER-JUG XVII. THE FLIGHT TO ITALY: A GROWING CLOUD XVIII. WOGAN AND CLEMENTINA CONTINUE THEIR JOURNEY ALONE XIX. THE ATTACK AT PERI XX. THE GOD OF THE MACHINE DOES NOT APPEAR XXI. COMPLICATIONS AT BOLOGNA XXII. CLEMENTINA TAKES MR. WOGAN TO VISIT THE CAPRARA PALACE XXIII. WOGAN LEARNS THAT HE HAS MEDDLED XXIV. MARIA VITTORIA REAPPEARS XXV. THE LAST THE EPILOGUE CLEMENTINA CHAPTER I The landlord, the lady, and Mr. Charles Wogan were all three, it seemed, in luck's way that September morning of the year 1719. Wogan was not surprised, his luck for the moment was altogether in, so that even when his horse stumbled and went lame at a desolate part of the road from Florence to Bologna, he had no doubt but that somehow fortune would serve him. His horse stepped gingerly on for a few yards, stopped, and looked round at his master. Wogan and his horse were on the best of terms. "Is it so bad as that?" said he, and dismounting he gently felt the strained leg. Then he took the bridle in his hand and walked forward, whistling as he walked.