"Scusino, Signori," he said, "_schiacciavo un sonnellino_. I did not think the Signori would be ready to leave so soon. _Quando si e giovini_--when one is young,--" he gave a broad wink. "Do the Signori wish to return by the same way as we came?" "No," said Ragna, "go round the other way by the Villa Fensi and the Barriera S. Niccolo." "Benone!" said the Jehu, as he stowed the nose-bag under the seat. He scrambled to the box with an agility astounding in one of his bulk, and with a crack of his whip they were off. The road wound sharply down away from the church, past white _fattorie_ and peasant-farmers' houses. The hill above cast a soft purple shadow over the road and down into the valley. "Now, darling," said Angelescu, "I have been thinking about how we are to get away. There is a train to-morrow afternoon at three,--before midnight we can be in Switzerland, out of reach. I shall not try to see you in the morning, it is better to be prudent, but I shall be at the railway station at half past two. I shall wait for you in the first class _Sala d'aspetto_. You must arrange things so that your absence will not be noticed before we shall have crossed the frontier--after that _je ne crains pas le diable en personne_!" he ended gaily. Ragna smiled up into his face. "Bien, I understand. The first class waiting room at half past two or a quarter to three." "You must take with you only what you can't do without for a day or two," he added, "just a dressing case, if you can get it out unnoticed. We will get everything else you need." She saw that he wished her to leave behind all that she owed to Valentini's grudging liberality. And he, reading her unspoken answer to her thought, said, "I am not a rich man, darling, but I have enough for us both--and I can't bear to think of you dressed in the clothes that--" "I shall wear nothing in future but what you give me," she answered gravely. There was a pause, then Ragna said, harking back to the moment on the steps below the church, "This afternoon has been like a foretaste of Heaven. It has been the most perfect happiness I have ever known." Angelescu slipped his arm behind her, and drew her close to him; her head sank to his shoulder. "Ah, darling," he answered, "and to think that we have waited so long for it--that so much has happened that was unnecessary."