Mrs. Menotti spared no pains to make Rico comfortable in his new home. The large front room upstairs was prepared for his special use. After everything had been arranged to her satisfaction, she went to gather some flowers as a finishing touch, and she had just placed them on the table when she heard Rico coming. "Mrs. Menotti has your room ready, and she is upstairs," said Stineli. "Won't you go up to see it now?" Rico expected to see a pleasant room, but he was not prepared to find the artistic effect which held him spellbound as he reached the threshold. Mrs. Menotti understood his nature so well that she knew what he would like, and she had arranged every detail herself. She met him at the door, and taking his hand, led him to the windows overlooking the lake. Rico wished to express his gratitude, but he could only murmur, "I am so glad to be at home." In the sitting room downstairs, where the doors opened so pleasantly into the garden, the family, after Rico had come to stay, spent the most delightful evenings imaginable. Ten o'clock no longer brought sadness to the happy circle, and the months slipped by quite unheeded. Rico was now supposed to manage his business, and he usually spent the days in the field and garden with his foreman. The first day they were out together the foreman thought, "I know more than my master," but that evening, when the soul-inspiring strains of the violin and voice came floating out to him across the garden, he thought, "My master does know more than I"; and thereafter he had a profound respect for Rico. CHAPTER XXI SUNSHINE AT LAKE GARDA Two years had passed since Rico had come to his home, and it seemed to them all that every day was filled with more pleasure than the preceding one. Stineli knew that the time was at hand when she ought to go home, and it made her sad whenever she thought of it. There was the possibility that she might not be allowed to come back, and she could think of nothing worse than that. Rico, too, began to be unhappy about it, for he had promised that she should go back to be confirmed. It seemed to be his duty to let her go, and though he put it off from day to day, it weighed upon his mind to such an extent that he scarcely spoke except when it was necessary. Mrs. Menotti saw that something was wrong, and inquired into the cause; she had long ago forgotten that Stineli would ever have to leave them. When they told her she said, "Stineli is still very young; it will be just as well to wait until she is older"; so they had one more year of undisturbed pleasure. One day, about a year later, a message came from Bergamo, saying that some one was there who was to take Stineli back with him. There was no way out of it now, so the preparations for the journey began. Silvio cried and cried because his Stineli was going away. "You must be sure to come back," said Mrs. Menotti. "Promise your father anything he wants if he will only let you come."